Post date: Jun 22, 2012 12:15:31 PM
Assange is holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has sought asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault charges, and he faces arrest by British police if he leaves the embassy.
In a telephone interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio from the embassy, Assange said he was concerned about being sent to the United States to face possible charges related to the WikiLeaks website, which published thousands of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010.
Wikileaks fouder Julian Assange speaks to Australia's Radio National from within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
EMBASSY OF ECUADOR, LONDON, UK / PAUL HACKETT/REUTERS - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday (June 22) that he was ready for a life in Ecuador and said the country had been "quite supportive" of his bid for asylum.
"The Ecuadorian people have been quite supportive. I saw the Ecuadorian Ambassador in Australia was making quite supportive comments. Ecuador back in 2010 suggested that perhaps I should come to Ecuador and be given residency, so they are sympathetic over a long period of time so we hope that the asylum application will be viewed favourably but now its a matter of gathering all the sort of extensive evidence of what has been happening in the US and submitting that with a formal request for asylum," said Assange.
He said he had no indication of when Ecuador would decide on his asylum claim, and said his move was aimed at raising awareness of U.S. moves to prosecute him over the 2010 leaks.
Leftist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa reiterated on Thursday that his government plans to do a very thorough analysis of Assange's application before making a decision.
Assange fears that if sent to Sweden, he would then be extradited to the United States where he believes he could face criminal charges punishable by death.
He said he was not running away from questioning over sexual assault allegations in Sweden, but said the Swedish prosecutors had refused to visit him in Britain or contact him by phone.
"This issue is about a very serious matter in the United States and an announcement was made by the Swedes, the Swedish government, that I would be detained without charge in Sweden, immediately on extradition."
"The situation here in the UK has been extremely precarious and the refusal by the Swedish prosecutor has led to a technical, the refusal by the Swedish prosecutor to come to the UK for the past 18 months, despite that being absolutely normal proceedure and the refusal of her to explain it in any manner whatsoever to the British courts has kept me trapped in the United Kingdom while the United States has prepared a case against me. We now have intelligence, public records, that the FBI file, in its case preparation now runs to 48,135 pages," said Assange.
Assange said his case was currently before a U.S. grand jury, which would decide whether charges could be laid. He said U.S. authorities have been careful not to confirm or deny any grand jury investigation.
Assange also hit out Australia for not taking stronger action to protect him, saying he had no consular contacts since December 2010 apart from telephone text messages.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said Assange has received more consular support than anyone in a similar position, while Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said Australia has regularly made representations about Assange to authorities in the U.S., Sweden and Britain.