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Julian Assange to be expelled from Ecuador's London embassy within 'hours to days' - Wikileaks says

April 5, 2019

A high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told Wikileaks that Julian Assange will be expelled imminently from the embassy in London where he has lived for the past six years. 

Wikileaks tweeted today that Mr Assange will be expelled within "hours to days" and that it already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest. 

The move comes after Mr Assange has been accused by Ecuador's president of violating his terms of asylum by spying on him.

Mr Assange took asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 as authorities in Sweden tried to extradite him for questioning in relation to sexual assault accusations.

That case was later dropped, but investigators in the US are still likely to seek extradition to question him over WikiLeaks' publishing of material leaked by US whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010.

Earlier this week, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno accused WikiLeaks of spying on him and intercepting his phone calls and private conversations.

The accusations came after local media published allegations of corruption which included photographs of Mr Moreno's family.

WikiLeaks responded by calling Mr Moreno's accusations "bogus", and that it had only reported on the corruption accusations after Ecuador's own legislators investigated the issue.

Mr Moreno today renewed his attack, telling the Ecuadorian Radio Broadcasters' Association that Mr Assange has "repeatedly violated" his terms of asylum.

"Mr Assange has violated the agreement we reached with him and his legal counsel too many times," Mr Moreno said in Spanish.

"It is not that he cannot speak and express himself freely, but he cannot lie, nor much less hack private accounts or phones."

Mr Assange, thourough WikiLeaks, has said the president is now pressuring him to leave by isolating him from visitors and spying on him.

In a statement, the organisation said on Wednesday, "If President Moreno wants to illegally terminate a refugee publisher's asylum to cover up an offshore corruption scandal, history will not be kind."

Supporters of Mr Assange, including his mother, are reportedly gathered outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in protest.

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