Ecuador decided Thursday to grant political asylum to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who sought refuge in the country's embassy in Britain to avert extradition to Sweden.
"The Ecuador government, loyal to its tradition to protect those who seek refuge with us at our diplomatic missions, has decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Mr Assange," Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said at a news conference.
Patino said his government reached its decision after Britain, Sweden and the United States refused to provide guarantees that Assange would not be extradited to the United States where he fears trial for the release of a trove of classified US documents.
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"If he were extradited to the United States, Mr Assange would not receive a fair trial (and) could be judged by special tribunals or military courts," he said.
"It is not implausible that he would be subjected to cruel and degrading treatment and be condemned to life in prison or capital punishment."
Britain ordered Assange extradited to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning about allegations of rape and sexual assault, after he had exhausted all legal appeals.
He then turned up at the Ecuadoran embassy in London on June 19, and requested political asylum.
Patino said Assange's imprisonment in Sweden "would open up a chain of events that would impede his avoiding extradition to a third country."
"As a result, Ecuador feels his arguments mean his fears are genuine, that he could be the victim of political persecution because of his decisive defense of the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press," he said.
DECISION 'CHANGES NOTHING'
Ecuador's decision to grant political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange changes nothing and Britain has an "obligation" to extradite him to Sweden, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.
Commenting on the "disappointing" decision, a spokeswoman said: "Under our law, with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden. We shall carry out that obligation."
SWEDEN REJECTS CLAIM
Sweden said Thursday it rejected Ecuador's claim that Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder wanted by Stockholm, would not have a fair trial as a reason for granting him political asylum.
"Our firm legal and constitutional system guarantees the rights of each and everyone. We firmly reject any accusations to the contrary," Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on his Twitter account.
