This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/12/julian-assange-police-removed-from-outside-ecuadorian-embassy
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Julian Assange: police removed from outside Ecuadorian embassy | Julian Assange: police removed from outside Ecuadorian embassy |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Scotland Yard has called off its multimillion pound 24-hour surveillance of the Ecuadorian embassy where Julian Assange has been living for 40 months, having decided the operation is “no longer proportionate”. | |
| 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 and sexual assault allegations. | |
| Metropolitan police officers had since maintained a constant watch of the embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, at a cost of at least £11.1m, according to figures released by Scotland Yard in June. | |
| A statement from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on Monday said the operation to arrest Assange continued but it was “no longer proportionate to commit officers to a permanent presence”. | |
| “The MPS will not discuss what form its continuing operation will take or the resourcing implications surrounding it,” it continued. “Whilst no tactics guarantee success in the event of Julian Assange leaving the embassy, the MPS will deploy a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him.” | “The MPS will not discuss what form its continuing operation will take or the resourcing implications surrounding it,” it continued. “Whilst no tactics guarantee success in the event of Julian Assange leaving the embassy, the MPS will deploy a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him.” |
| Scotland Yard said there was no “imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue”. | Scotland Yard said there was no “imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue”. |
| “Like all public services, MPS resources are finite,” the statement said. “With so many different criminal, and other, threats to the city it protects, the current deployment of officers is no longer believed proportionate.” | “Like all public services, MPS resources are finite,” the statement said. “With so many different criminal, and other, threats to the city it protects, the current deployment of officers is no longer believed proportionate.” |
| WikiLeaks reacted to the announcement by tweeting “BREAKING: UK police announce extra covert efforts against Assange after spending 12m” and including a link to the Scotland Yard statement. | |
| BREAKING: UK police announce extra covert efforts against Assange after spending £12m https://t.co/o4ckKu00mR see http://t.co/8b8Pyk3tZS | BREAKING: UK police announce extra covert efforts against Assange after spending £12m https://t.co/o4ckKu00mR see http://t.co/8b8Pyk3tZS |
| Two women made allegations against Assange five years ago in Stockholm, but no charges were brought because the prosecutor said she was unable to interrogate him. | Two women made allegations against Assange five years ago in Stockholm, but no charges were brought because the prosecutor said she was unable to interrogate him. |
| Related: Julian Assange: key events leading up to WikiLeaks founder seeking asylum | Related: Julian Assange: key events leading up to WikiLeaks founder seeking asylum |
| A European arrest warrant was issued in December 2010 and he is now subject to arrest under the Bail Act for failing to surrender to custody on 29 June 2012 for removal to Sweden. | |
| Assange believes he had no choice but to seek asylum as Sweden declined to guarantee that he would not be extradited to the US to face espionage charges related to WikiLeaks if he travelled to Stockholm. | Assange believes he had no choice but to seek asylum as Sweden declined to guarantee that he would not be extradited to the US to face espionage charges related to WikiLeaks if he travelled to Stockholm. |
| Ecuadorian officials reportedly considered smuggling Assange out of the embassy by disguising him in fancy dress, allowing him to hop across the Kensington rooftops to a helipad, or become lost in the crowds in Harrods, according to documents seen by the Ecuadorian news website Focus Ecuador and BuzzFeed UK. | |
| Another possibility for getting Assange out was purportedly to appoint him Ecuador’s representative to the UN and hustle him out in an official car under the protection of diplomatic immunity. | Another possibility for getting Assange out was purportedly to appoint him Ecuador’s representative to the UN and hustle him out in an official car under the protection of diplomatic immunity. |