Julian Assange has said he could be stuck inside the Ecuadorian embassy here for up to a year and eventually Sweden is likely drop the sexual assault allegations against him after a thorough investigation.
“The Swedish government could drop the case. I think this is the most likely scenario. Maybe after a thorough investigation of what happened they could drop the case. I think this will be solved in between six and 12 months. That’s what I estimate,” WikiLeaks founder told the Venezuelan TV station Telesur. Mr. Assange’s remarks that the impasse was not likely to be resolved any time soon was echoed by the British Foreign Secretary William Hague who said there was “no solution in sight”. “Given Ecuador’s position on what they call diplomatic asylum and our very clear legal position, such a solution is not in sight at the moment,” he told the BBC.
Britain insists that it is under a legal “obligation” to extradite Mr. Assange to Sweden and will not allow him safe passage to Ecuador — the country by which has been granted asylum.
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Mr. Assange — who has been holed up in the embassy since June — fears that if extradited to Sweden, he could be handed to American authorities, who want to prosecute him for publishing secret official documents.
He said the U.S. government not only wished to try him for alleged espionage, but also to stop WikiLeaks from functioning.
“They say it explicitly, in special documents: not only accusing Julian Assange of espionage, but also to curb the current activities of WikiLeaks,” he said.
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