The founder of WikiLeaks whistleblowing organization, Julian Assange, who has lived in the Embassy of Ecuador in London since 2012, may have to leave the embassy in the near future either because he is pushed out or because his freedom is restricted to such an extent that he cannot stay, the CNN broadcaster reported on Friday.

Ecuador’s recently-elected President Lenin Moreno is reportedly facing increasing pressure from the United States, and Madrid also weighed in after Assange expressed his support for Catalonia’s separatists, the media reported, citing sources.

Assange is fearing extradition to the United States, where the authorities are looking into WikiLeaks activities. The whistleblowing site has released a large number of documents that allegedly originated from various US government agencies, including diplomatic cables and CIA internal documents.

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The UK police originally detained Assange in 2010 over sexual assault investigation led in Sweden, then released him on bail. The WikiLeaks founder breached the bail conditions and asked the Ecuadorian Embassy for asylum.

The Swedish authorities announced last year that they had dropped the investigation into sexual assault claims against Assange, but the UK police said the arrest warrant on the activist remained in force, because of his failure to comply with bail conditions.

 

Sputnik