Ecuador restates support for Julian Assange on asylum anniversary

The Ecuadorean government has stressed its commitment to finding a solution to the standoff over Julian Assange, on the anniversary of the WikiLeaks founder being granted political asylum.

The Australian has been living inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London for more than a year as part of his campaign to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sex crimes against two women – claims he denies.

Assange fears that if he travels to Sweden he will be forcibly taken to the US to face questioning over documents published by WikiLeaks.

A statement from the Ecuadorean government said: "One year ago today Ecuador took the decision to award asylum to Julian Assange, a journalist who feared political persecution after publishing information sensitive to the US government that exposed war crimes, killings, torture and other human rights abuses that would otherwise never have come to light.

"After thoroughly examining the evidence, the government of Ecuador concluded that it shared Julian Assange's concerns that there is a real and present danger to his freedoms."

The statement said the recent guilty verdict against the WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning and attempts to prosecute Edward Snowden for leaking information about US surveillance underlined why Ecuador granted asylum.

It added: "The decision taken was based on Ecuadorean and international law. As article 14 of the universal declaration of human rights declares, 'everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution'.

"However, Ecuador accepts that resolving Julian's status and specifically his right to leave the embassy without threat of arrest and onward extradition to the US involves the jurisdictions of three sovereign nations – the UK, Sweden and Ecuador.

"The government of Ecuador remains committed to finding an equitable solution to this situation that respects domestic and international law while at the same time protecting Julian Assange from inhumane treatment and the threats of political persecution."