Julian Assange: Ecuador Is Trying to End My Asylum, Will Send Me to U.S.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed Monday that Ecuador is moving to end his asylum at their London embassy and hand him over to the United States, according to a report from Reuters. To justify his claims, he cited a series of new rules that had been imposed on him by the Ecuadorian government, including paying for his medical and phone bills and cleaning up after his cat. Assange, whose comments came via teleconference during a court hearing in Quito, is currently suing the government over the new requirements. During the hearing, Assange claimed that the new rules show that Ecuador is attempting to push him out, and that an official order is imminent. His comments led the government’s attorney to warn him about making political statements. The lawyer did, however, tell reporters last week that Assange was welcome in the embassy under the new rules. He also noted that the United Kingdom said in August that they would not extradite Assange, even if he was evicted from the embassy. Reuters notes that Assange originally took refuge in the embassy after Sweden attempted to extradite him for questioning in a sexual-assault case. But he also fears extradition to the United States, where WikiLeaks faces a grand-jury investigation.