Assange Correa
© RTJulian Assange taler med Ecuadors præsident Raphael Correa i Maj 2012
Den foregående og meget afholdte præsident af Ecuador, Raphael Correa, har anklaget Ecuadors Præsident Lenin Moreno for at suspendere assylet for cyberaktivisten,Julian Assange for at få et lån fra den Internationale Valutafond (IMF).

Correa sagde, at der er bevis for at Moreno, som Correa valgte som sin efterfølger har lovet at "videregive" Assange i et møde fra 2017 med Paul Manafort, den tidligere amerikanske kapagneleder for Donald Trump.

Tidligere præsident Correa, som brød med Moreno, kommenterede også et besøg i Ecuador af den amerikanske vicepræsident, Mike Pence.

Ved disse møder, skulle Moreno have lovet at "hjælpe med at isolere *Venezuela, at lade Chevron oliefirmaet, som ødelagde halvdelen af Amazonas regnskov forblive ustraffet og at udlevere Assange."


Last month, the IMF announced approval of a $4.2 billion loan to Ecuador. The first installment, of $652 million, has already been paid.

Correa suspects that the Ecuadorian president made the decision to withdraw Assange's asylum after WikiLeaks published documents about Moreno's alleged relationship with a failing company, INA Papers.


The former president pointed out that the company INA Papers was registered in 2012, when Moreno was still its vice president.

According to the Ecuadorian head of state, the measure to remove his asylum was a response to the journalist's disrespectful and aggressive behavior, his hostile and threatening statements against Ecuador and alleged violations of international conventions, justifications considered to be unconvincing both by supporters of the cyber-activist as by several analysts.

Assange, who is responsible for the publication of US government secret documents, is the reason for the extradition request. The great concern for his lawyers - and he too - is that the British authorities actually decide to send him to the United States, where the legal consequences of upsetting Washington are still uncertain.

Assange will be on videoconference for the proceedings of the next extradition hearing, set for May 2.

It will be a preliminary session of a court case that can last for months or even years.