Julian Assange, founder of the infamous WikiLeaks resource, received political asylum in Ecuador. However, the chances that he will be able to escape punishment on the charges are very slim.
Assange got into trouble with the law after secret documents about the US Army's war in Afghanistan were posted on his WikiLeaks website. Immediately after that, a criminal case was opened against him in Sweden on charges of rape, he had to hastily leave for England. But justice found him there too: Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Julian, as a result, the fugitive himself came to the police. Soon he managed to get out on bail of 200,000 pounds sterling, but he lost the trial. Appeals to higher courts did not help either, the verdict remained the same - Assange was awaiting extradition to Sweden.
Realizing that he would not be able to avoid expulsion, Julian took refuge in London on the territory of the Ecuadorian embassy, which had granted him political asylum. The embassy of this country is a small two-room apartment on the first floor of a residential building, in which the owner of WikiLeaks has been allocated one room. Assange's living conditions are quite modest, of the amenities he has only a shower and a toilet. The President of Ecuador has already announced that Julian can stay at the embassy of his country as long as he needs.
If Assange managed to leave England and move to Ecuador, most of his problems would be left behind. However, the British will not let him out so easily - as soon as the fugitive leaves the Ecuadorian embassy, he will be immediately arrested. An impasse has arisen: Assange cannot leave for Ecuador, but the British police cannot yet arrest him, since the territory of the embassy is inviolable according to all norms of international law.
High-ranking British officials have already voiced calls for the storming of the Ecuadorian embassy - however, they were immediately refuted. But the desire of the British authorities to arrest Assange is so great that a new option is being worked out - the Ecuadorian Embassy may be deprived of this status due to the fact that it is harboring a criminal. After that, nothing will stop the police from arresting the founder of WikiLeaks.
Despite the fact that Assange is accused of rape, there is little doubt that the real reason for his persecution is the desire of the US authorities to punish Julian for publishing millions of pages of classified information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After his expulsion to Sweden, he will most likely face new charges, this time in the United States, where Julian faces life imprisonment.
