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Police ending 24-hour watch on Assange

 
Published Oct. 13, 2015

$17M and counting

Police ending 24-hour watch on Assange

Citing the strain on resources, London police said Monday that they were ending their round-the-clock monitoring of the Ecuadorean Embassy, where Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has been holed up since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Assange, who faces an accusation of rape in Sweden and an order that he be extradited there to face questioning, sought asylum at the embassy. He has refused to go to Sweden, saying that he fears he could then be extradited to the United States to face prosecution related to the publication of leaked State Department diplomatic cables. Assange, a native of Australia, has denied the rape allegations, made in 2010, and no formal charges have been filed against him.

The police have been keeping a 24-hour watch outside the embassy, poised to arrest Assange should he try to leave. (Diplomatic protocol prevents them from entering the building.) The constant surveillance had, as of the end of April, cost British taxpayers $17 million, according to the police.

The British media have reported that the embassy has considered several plots to help Assange escape.

New York Times