SBS Dateline | Ecuador s Double Standard

Julian Assange – champion of press freedom and government openness – remains holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, but what awaits him if he ever makes it to Ecuador?

Amos Roberts finds President Correa is on a crusade against the media and is seen as anything but a supporter of free speech.

He regularly unleashes a tirade of abuse against journalists, and the government is allowed by law to interrupt broadcasts with any ‘corrections’ it wishes to make.

Amos also meets Aliaksandr Barankov, who was granted asylum in Ecuador after uncovering corruption in his native Belarus.

But despite fearing for his life, he was threatened with extradition to Belarus and its questionable human rights… all just weeks before Assange was granted asylum.

So how has Julian Assange ended up turning to Ecuador for help?

WATCH - Click to see Amos's story.

ASSANGE'S LEGAL LIMBO - Also on this episode of Dateline, Yaara Bou Melhem speaks to Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson in Stockholm about the response of the Australian Government, the effect on Sweden's reputation and the options now available to him.

REPLAY - Look back at Dateline's previous stories about Julian Assange, including in-depth access to him while working on WikiLeaks and an interview as he awaited the court decision over his extradition to Sweden.

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