Ecuador asks Britain to allow Julian Assange ‘safe passage …

The WikiLeaks founder has been in the embassy since he took refuge there to avoid extradition in June 2012. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters

Ecuador has requested that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be allowed a safe passage out of the countrys London embassy to hospital for a medical examination.

Ecuadors Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had made the request so that Assange, who has been living for 40 months inside its London embassy, could undergo an MRI scan as a result of pain in his shoulder. At present, he faces arrest if he leaves the embassy.

The WikiLeaks founder, an Australian national, sought political asylum at the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him over rape allegations. In August they dropped their investigation into two other claims one of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion because they ran out of time to question him.

The development comes after Scotland Yard called off its multimillion pound 24-hour surveillance of the embassy earlier this week, having decided the operation is no longer proportionate.

The Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday night: The Ecuadorian govt have informed us that Mr Assange requires a medical assessment.

There is no question that the British authorities would in any way seek to impede Mr Assange receiving medical advice or care. We have made this clear to the govt of Ecuador.

Asked if Assange would be arrested if he left the embassy to visit a hospital a Foreign Office spokesperson said that it was a matter for the police.

Speaking on Wednesday on Ecuadorian TV, Ecuadors foreign minister Ricardo Patio said that Britain should grant Julian Assange safe passage so that he can leave the embassy.

He added that the British authorities should make this gesture so Assange can benefit from the right of asylum that we have granted him, as should be done in a respectful international relationship.

The WikiLeaks Twitter account linked to a statement saying that the source of the shoulder pain being experienced by Assange could only be diagnosed with hospital equipment that could not be brought into the embassy due to size and weight.

It added that Ecuador wrote to the Foreign Office on 30 September 2015 to request that Assange be permitted to go to the hospital under conditions agreed upon by the UK and Ecuador.

The allowance would be for a few hours to allow Assange to be able to have medical tests undertaken and to diagnose the cause. It said that the Foreign Office had replied on 12 October that it would not permit the safe passage to the hospital for purposes of medical tests.

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Ecuador asks Britain to allow Julian Assange 'safe passage ...