WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange greets supporters from a balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Camera IconWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange greets supporters from a balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Credit: AP

Britain is reportedly in high level talks with Ecuador to evict Julian Assange from the London embassy

Staff writersNews Corp Australia Network

JULIAN Assange is reportedly set to be evicted from Ecuador’s London embassy after six years of asylum, with Britain in high-level talks with the South American country.

Ministers and senior Foreign Office officials are said to be in discussions over the future of the Australian WikiLeaks founder, who has been confined to the Ecuador embassy in Knightsbridge for more than six years.

His refuge in the building has cost taxpayers millions of dollars since he fled there 2012.

The reports come a matter of weeks before Ecuador president Lenin Moreno’s scheduled UK visit, the leader renowned for disliking Mr Assange, having labelled him a ‘hacker’, an ‘inherited problem’ and a ‘stone in the shoe’.

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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange raising his fist prior to addressing the media on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London last year.
Camera IconWikileaks founder Julian Assange raising his fist prior to addressing the media on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London last year. Credit: AFP

Mr Assange fled to the embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden for alleged sex crimes, which he denies. Sweden later threw out its investigation but Assange faces arrest by British authorities for fleeing justice in the case.

He fears British authorities will then allow his extradition to the US where he is wanted for the publication by WikiLeaks of classified information in 2010.

Sources told The Sunday Times Mr Assange fears the US is behind the push to evict him.

His lengthy stint has set Ecuador back more than $6.6 million (£3.7 million) thanks to an extensive intelligence operation that was established to monitor Scotland Yard, visitors and Mr Assange.

The Metropolitan Police spent more than $21 million (£12 million) guarding the embassy 24/7 until the patrols were cancelled in 2015.

President Moreno’s predecessor, Rafael Correa, allowed Mr Assange political asylum at their London embassy after being accused of sexual assault and rape in Sweden.

Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson speaks to the press after Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was questioned by Swedish authorities in 2016.
Camera IconAustralian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson speaks to the press after Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was questioned by Swedish authorities in 2016. Credit: News Corp Australia, Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Mr Assange argued to the then-president the accusations against him were an orchestrated plot by the US government, which experienced scrutiny after WikiLeaks information was released.

However Mr Assange has since come to blows with the Moreno government, which has cut off his internet access, installed jammers and banned visitors apart from his lawyers.

Ecuador has flagged appointing Mr Assange to the United Nations in a radical bid to get him out, according to documents from Ecuador’s intelligence agency Senain obtained by The Guardian.

But officials believed the move would give him diplomatic immunity and enable him to escape without arrest. Last month two officials from the Australian High Commission paid a first visit in six years to the embassy.