Assange to be kicked out of Ecuadorian embassy

WikiLeaks tweeted late Thursday that its founder, Julian Assange, will be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London within "hours to days," citing a "high level source."

Assange, who faces charges in the United States over leaked government documents, could be arrested by authorities upon leaving the embassy.

Accusations against Assange

• Ecuador has blamed WikiLeaks for the INA papers offshore scandal that has implicated President Lenin Moreno.
• Moreno has also accused Assange of repeatedly violating the conditions of his asylum in Ecuador's London embassy.
• Ecuador also suspects WikiLeaks is responsible for the proliferation of private photos of Moreno on social media.

Seven-year asylum: Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012 to avoid arrest and extradition to Sweden, where he faced rape charges. The Swedish judiciary has since dropped the charges, but Assange now faces arrest in the UK for violating his bail conditions by fleeing to the embassy.

Assange said he fears being extradited to the United States, where he faces charges over classified documents WikiLeaks published in 2010. However, Britain has guaranteed that the WikiLeaks founder will not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger.

Read more: German lawmakers meet Julian Assange in London

Sick of Assange: Ecuador has sought to expel Assange for several months amid souring relations. He sued Quito in October for violating his "fundamental rights" by limiting his access to the outside world. On Tuesday, Ecuadorian President Moreno said Assange "repeatedly violated" his asylum conditions in the embassy, though he did not say whether Ecuador would withdraw the Australian's asylum.

INA papers scandal: The INA papers are a collection of documents that were leaked and published in February. The documents allegedly uncovered the operations of INA Investment Corp., an offshore tax haven created by Moreno's brother. The trove of emails, phone communications and bank receipts have supposedly linked the Ecuadorian president and his family to a money laundering scheme and offshore bank accounts. The revelation sparked a congressional corruption probe into Moreno.

dv/rt (AFP, dpa)

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