Embattled Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has revealed that he plans to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London after more than two years inside.

Speaking at a press conference Monday, the Australian said he would leave the building soon without elaborating on an exact date of departure.

Assange, who has been living within the embassy under political asylum since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faces two rape charges, did however suggest that his decision wasnt based on his ill-health, which had been reported by the U.K.s Sky News, part-owned by Rupert Murdoch.

I am leaving the embassy soon, but perhaps not for the reasons that Murdoch press and Sky News are saying at the moment, he said, again without providing any further details.

Assanges deteriorating health has been a growing concern, with supporters claiming that his long confinement in a building without access to outdoor areas or direct sunlight has resulted in a heart defect and lung condition. U.K. police have been stationed outside the embassy since he first entered, under orders to arrest him should he attempt to leave and preventing him from seeking hospital treatment.

Last year it was revealed that the 47-year-olds long spell in the embassy had seen visits from John Cusack, Lady Gaga, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Yoko Ono. Among his legal representatives are Amal Alamuddin, the U.K./Lebanese human rights lawyer engaged to George Clooney.

2013 saw the release of two major films regarding Assange. Alex Gibney's We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, was a Sundance-premiering documentary that chronicled the rise of Assanges whistleblower website and its groundbreaking Iraq and Afghanistan war leaks, and was widely praised.

The Fifth Estate, from Participant Media and DreamWorks, opened the Toronto International Film Festival and saw Benedict Cumberbatch play the activist. However Assange denounced the film as a massive propaganda attack and wrote a letter to the Sherlock star urging him not to be a part of the project. The Fifth Estate earned just over $8.5 million and was widely considered a flop, scoring one of the lowest openings for a DreamWorks release.

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Julian Assange Says He is to Leave London's Ecuadorian Embassy "Soon"

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he's 'confident' his asylum status will be resolved, as he awaits an imminent ruling on his case by a Swedish court.

A court in Stockholm is expected to rule on Friday on an appeal by Assange's lawyers against the arrest warrant hanging over him for allegations of rape and sexual molestation.

'We will win because the law is very clear. My only hope is that the court is following the law and is not pressured politically to do anything outside of the law,' Assange said via a video link screened at a human rights film festival in Barcelona.

Swedish prosecutors want to question the 43-year-old Australian, who could also face trial in the US over WikiLeaks' publishing a horde of sensitive military and diplomatic communications.

Assange has been holed up since 2012 in London in the embassy of Ecuador, which granted him political asylum the same year.

If the Swedish court scraps the European arrest warrant against Assange, it could mean that he would be able to leave the Ecuadorian embassy.

'As time goes by, political pressure decreases and understanding increases. So I am very confident I will not remain in this situation. I'm completely confident,' Assange said.

Assange fears the warrant against him is aimed at eventually extraditing him from Sweden to the US.

Swedish prosecutors said last month that idea was 'far-fetched'.

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Assange 'confident' ahead of Sweden ruling

The online publication of thousands of classified documents has been decried by half of Americans, but people in Canada and Britain are not as strong in their condemnation of the actions of WikiLeaks, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

The online survey of representative national samples shows that practically half of respondents in the United States (47%) are following the WikiLeaks story very closely or moderately closely, compared to 44 per cent in both Canada and Britain.

Half of Americans (51%) believe WikiLeaks as wrong to publish tens of thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic cables, while one-in-five (19%) agree with its actions.

The views of respondents in the other two countries are definitely more nuanced. In Canada, 36 per cent of respondents say WikiLeaks was wrong, while 30 per cent claim it was right. Britain posts very similar numbers, with 38 per cent of respondents stating that WikiLeaks was wrong, and 33 per cent saying it was right.

At least three-in-five respondents in the three countries believe the release of these documents will damage diplomatic relations between the U.S. and other countries (BRI 65%, CAN 61%, USA 60%) and majorities also state that the release of these documents will make it harder for the U.S. to advance its foreign policy goals (BRI 60%, USA 59%, CAN 57%). However, while three-in-five Americans (62%) fear that the WikiLeaks release will put peoples lives at risk, including U.S. diplomats and soldiers, this view is shared by about half of Britons (51%) and Canadians (48%).

The WikiLeaks Justification

In August, a spokesman for WikiLeaks justified the websites actions, stating: Knowledge about ongoing issues like the war in Afghanistan is the only way to help create something like safety. Hopefully with this understanding, public scrutiny will then influence governments to develop better politics.

A third of Americans (32%) agree with this justification, while almost half (47%) disagree with it.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Communications & Media Relations +877 730 3570 mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

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Half of Americans Condemn WikiLeaks Release; Britons and Canadians Split

Google Is Not What It Seems

by Julian Assange

In this extract from his new book When Google Met Wikileaks, WikiLeaks' publisher Julian Assange describes the special relationship between Google, Hillary Clinton and the State Department -- and what that means for the future of the internet. WikiLeaks readers can obtain a 20 percent discount on the cover price when ordering from the OR Books website by using the coupon code "WIKILEAKS".

* * *

E

ric Schmidt is an influential figure, even among the parade of powerful characters with whom I have had to cross paths since I founded WikiLeaks. In mid-May 2011 I was under house arrest in rural Norfolk, about three hours drive northeast of London. The crackdown against our work was in full swing and every wasted moment seemed like an eternity. It was hard to get my attention. But when my colleague Joseph Farrell told me the executive chairman of Google wanted to make an appointment with me, I was listening.

I was intrigued that the mountain would come to Muhammad. But it was not until well after Schmidt and his companions had been and gone that I came to understand who had really visited me.

* * *

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Julian Assange - Google Is Not What It Seems

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - A chance to have lunch with Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website, which publishes classified information, is being auctioned, according to auction website Charitybuzz.

This is your opportunity to meet and have lunch with one of the most compelling and controversial figures of our time Julian Assange, the website says.

The winner of the auction, who will be allowed to also take one guest, will meet Assange at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where Assange has lived since 2012.

Over lunch you will discuss global political and security issues. Added Bonus: security tips for your laptop or mobile device, expert advice in geopolitics, privacy and managing an organisation under fire, by Assange, says the description.

The winners ticket cannot be either resold or re-auctioned, or transferred. The meeting will be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon date. The winner will have to present a valid passport, be subjected to Embassy of Ecuador security screening and not be affiliated with the media. Neither electronic equipment, nor photos, nor publishing an account of the experience is to be allowed without prior approval.

Bidding opened on August 12 and is to close on August 28. The estimated value of the lot is $50,000. According to the website, no bids have yet been made.

The United States is believed to be trying to get hold of Assange and get retribution for the leakage of classified documents and diplomatic cables, which is punishable by death.

In 2012, Britains Supreme Court ruled to extradite Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, although WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said he suspected Washington influenced the ruling. Extradition to Sweden is considered a pretext to send Assange to the United States.

Ecuador granted the 43-year-old Australian citizen asylum, and Assange took shelter in the countrys embassy in London in June 2012, although UK authorities are eager to follow through on their obligation to Sweden, denying Assange safe passage out of the embassy and putting round-the-clock security in place.

Bidding opened on August 12 and will close on August 28. The estimated value of the lot is $50,000. According to the website, no bids have yet been made.

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Auction for Lunch with WikiLeaks Founder Assange

Wikileaks: Not safe for Assange to leave embassy even if Sweden drops case.
Sweden #39;s chief prosecutor may have crushed hopes that Julian Assange #39;s legal battle could end today. Apparently, she is refusing to drop sexual assault allegations against the whistleblower....

By: IN THE NOW

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Wikileaks: Not safe for Assange to leave embassy even if Sweden drops case. - Video

Wikileaks founder launched attack on search giant and its chairman Listed establishment ties of 'Google foreign minister' Eric Schmidt Claimed Schmidt entangled Google with 'shadiest of U.S. power structures' Said Google is too big and powerful - and a 'serious concern' Assange has been holed up in Ecuadorian embassy in London for two years to avoid facing rape accusations in Sweden Fears extradition to the US because of diplomatic cable leaks

By Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline

Published: 13:23 EST, 26 October 2014 | Updated: 02:28 EST, 27 October 2014

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Julian Assange has launched an attack on Google - saying the search giant has turned 'big and bad', and characterizing its chairman Eric Schmidt as a Government agent trying to further U.S. 'imperialist' ambitions.

The Wikileaks founder, who is under a Justice Department criminal investigation for leaking thousands of classified diplomatic cables, lashed out at the internet giant in an extract from an upcoming book.

Assange, who has spent the past two years claiming asylum to avoid facing rape accusations, also detailed connections between Schmidt and the U.S. establishment and implied Google is acting as a front to enact U.S. foreign policy.

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Julian Assange attacks Google claiming Eric Schmidt is government stooge

Wikileaks founder launched attack on search giant and its chairman Listed establishment ties of 'Google foreign minister' Eric Schmidt Claimed Schmidt entangled Google with 'shadiest of U.S. power structures' Said Google is too big and powerful - and a 'serious concern' Assange has been holed up in Ecuadorian embassy in London for two years to avoid facing rape accusations in Sweden Fears extradition to the US because of diplomatic cable leaks

By Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline

Published: 13:23 EST, 26 October 2014 | Updated: 17:03 EST, 26 October 2014

67 shares

101

View comments

Julian Assange has launched an attack on Google - saying the search giant has turned 'big and bad', and characterizing its chairman Eric Schmidt as a Government agent trying to further U.S. 'imperialist' ambitions.

The Wikileaks founder, who is under a Justice Department criminal investigation for leaking thousands of classified diplomatic cables, lashed out at the internet giant in an extract from an upcoming book.

Assange, who has spent the past two years claiming asylum to avoid facing rape accusations, also detailed connections between Schmidt and the U.S. establishment and implied Google is acting as a front to enact U.S. foreign policy.

Scroll down for video

See original here:
Julian Assange launches attack on 'shady, invasive' web giant Google - and claims chairman Eric Schmidt is ...

Exclusive:An international community of resistance has formed against pervasive spying by the U.S. National Security Agency with key enclaves in Moscow (with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden) and in London (with WikiLeaks Julian Assange), way stations visitedby ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

By Ray McGovern

In early September in Russia, National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden told me about a documentary entitled Citizenfour,named after the alias he used when he asked filmmaker Laura Poitras to help him warn Americans about how deeply the NSA had carved away their freedoms.

When we spoke, Snowden seemed more accustomed to his current reality, i.e., still being alive albeit far from home, than he did in October 2013 when I met with him along with fellow whistleblowers Tom Drake, Coleen Rowley and Jesselyn Radack, as we presented him with the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaking in Moscow on Oct. 9, 2013. (From a video posted by WikiLeaks)

A year ago, the four of usspent a long, relaxing evening with Snowden and sensed his lingering wonderment at the irony-suffused skein of events that landed him in Russia, out of reach from the U.S. governments long armof justice.

Six days before we gave Snowden the award, former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden and House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers had openly expressed their view that Snowden deserved to be on the list, meaning the capture or kill list that could have made Snowden the target of a drone strike. When I asked him if he were aware of that recent indignity, he nodded yes with a winsome wince of incredulity.

ThisSeptember, there was no drone of Damocles hanging over the relaxed lunch that the two of us shared. There were, rather, happier things to discuss.For example, I asked if he were aware that one of his co-workers in Hawaii had volunteered to Andy Greenberg of Forbes Magazine that Snowden was admired by his peers as a man of principle, as well as a highly gifted geek.

The co-worker told Greenberg: NSA is full of smart people, but Ed was in a class of his own. Ive never seen anything like it. He was given virtually unlimited access to NSA data [because] he could do things nobody else could.

Equally important, the former colleague pointed out that Snowden kept on his desk a copy of the U. S. Constitution to cite when arguing with co-workers against NSA activities that he thought might be in violation of Americas founding document.Greenbergs source conceded that he or she had slowly come to understand that Snowden was trying to do the right thing and that this was very much in character, adding, I wont call him a hero, but hes sure as hell no traitor.

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Citizenfour’s Escape to Freedom in Russia

Barcelona (AFP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday he was "confident" his asylum status will be resolved, as he awaits an imminent ruling on his case by a Swedish court.

A court in Stockholm is expected to rule on Friday on an appeal by Assange's lawyers against the arrest warrant hanging over him for allegations of rape and sexual molestation.

"We will win because the law is very clear. My only hope is that the court is following the law and is not pressured politically to do anything outside of the law," Assange said via a video link screened at a human rights film festival in Barcelona.

Swedish prosecutors want to question the 43-year-old Australian, who could also face trial in the United States over WikiLeaks' publishing a horde of sensitive military and diplomatic communications.

Assange has been holed up since 2012 in London in the embassy of Ecuador, which granted him political asylum the same year.

If the Swedish court scraps the European arrest warrant against Assange, it could mean that he would be able to leave the Ecuadoran embassy.

"As time goes by, political pressure decreases and understanding increases. So I am very confident I will not remain in this situation. I'm completely confident," Assange said.

Assange fears the warrant against him is aimed at eventually extraditing him from Sweden to the United States. Swedish prosecutors said last month that idea was "far-fetched".

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WikiLeaks' Assange 'confident' ahead of Sweden ruling