Ecuadorian minister: Assange could be in London embassy for 10 years

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino has suggested that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could stay in its embassy in London for up to 10 years if he is not allowed to leave and travel to Ecuador.

At the United Nations event, Patino said that Assange was being denied his human rights by being unable to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London. "We are going to insist in our conversation with William Hague that they provide a safe passage as a way not only to resolve the deadlock between our two countries but also to protect the human rights of Assange," The Telegraph quoted Patino, as saying.

"The other question in the air is what if they do not provide him with a safe passage? Do we want to keep him in our embassy for ten years without the rights to his life, his intimacy or mobility?," he said.

"The UK is a state which says it defends human rights and freedom of movement. Would it be right, would it be human that they are threatening to keep Assange for month or years in an embassy alleging that they have an obligation to fulfill an extradition by the Swedish government?,' he added

According to the paper, Patino will meet with his British counterpart Hague on Thursday to demand that the UK allows Julian Assange to leave the embassy in Kensington.