‘Assange is not a killer’, claims his lawyer as she accuses Ecuador of making up ‘dirty protest’ – and suggests he is happy to face Swedish justice to stay out of Trump’s clutches (despite spending SEVEN YEARS in hiding)
- Jennifer Robinson says the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge lied
- Julian Assange’s lawyer said the claims he smeared faeces were fabricated
- The claims were made in an effort to force the Wikileaks co-founder out
Claims Julian Assange put faeces on the walls of the Ecuadorian embassy were lies, his lawyer says.
Jennifer Robinson, Assange’s lawyer, says Ecuador made ‘outrageous’ claims about Assange’s actions while inside the Knightsbridge embassy.
She said the claims were fabricated as a pretext to force him out.
And he went in to the embassy in 2012 to avoid ‘US injustice’ rather than Swedish justice.
His lawyer claims he ‘has cooperated with the Swedish investigation’ in to allegations of rape and sexual misconduct.
Assange lived in the embassy for more than seven years before his arrest on Thursday.
Jennifer Robinson, Assange’s lawyer, says claims he smeared faeces on the walls of his apartment in the Knightsbridge embassy were lies used to force him out
Ecuador’s president Lenin Moreno accused the Australian of ‘discourteous and aggressive behaviour’ as he confirmed the south American country had withdrawn his asylum status.
Rafael Correa, Ecuadorian president when Assange was granted asylum, branded Moreno a traitor.
But the country’s Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo hit back by claiming Correa had allowed the 47-year-old to get away with some unimaginable behaviour.
She said: ‘During his stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy, during the government of the former president Rafael Correa, they tolerated things like Mr Assange putting faeces on the walls of the embassy and other types of behaviour of this kind that is far removed from the minimum respect a guest should have in a country which has generously welcomed him.’
She did not make it clear if he had used his own faeces or someone else’s.
Demonstrators protest outside the Ecuadorian consulate on June 20, 2012, when he entered the embassy
But today Ms Robinson told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday: ‘The first thing to say is Ecuador has been making some outrageous allegations. It’s a difficult situation.
‘I’ve been visiting him for the last seven years. This man has been inside a room with no outside access. Inside the embassy it’s become more difficult.
‘He stayed inside the embassy for so long because of a real and legitimate fear of US extradition which, as we saw on Thursday, proved to be justifiable fears.’
More to follow…