Official: Julian Assange to be Granted Asylum

Embattled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be granted asylum to Ecuador, according to a recent report.

An Ecuadorian official who has been described as “familiar with government discussions” told The Guardian that Ecuador’s government will approve Assange’s request for asylum. It remains unknown, however, if he will be allowed a path to reach Ecuador from the country’s embassy in London, where he’s been living since mid-June.

Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, previously said that he would announce his decision about Assange’s asylum request before Friday. Correa appeared as a guest on Assange’s television show, World Tomorrow, in May.

Government sources also told The Guardian that Ecuador’s offer of asylum was extended to Assange months ago, before he sought safe harbor at the Ecuadorian embassy.

Assange is facing extradition from the United Kingdom to Sweden, where he’s wanted by prosecutors to answer questions regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. Assange believes the charges against him have been trumped up as part of a United States-backed plan to get him to a U.S. court to face still-unannounced charges related to WikiLeaks’ release of classified American diplomatic cables.

WikiLeaks only recently came back online after a more than week of being knocked offline by cyberattacks.

UPDATE: According to BNO News, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry has not yet made a decision about Assange:

Ecuador Foreign Ministry says it has not yet made a decision regarding Assange asylum request.

— BNO News (@BNONews) August 14, 2012

UPDATE: Correa himself has rebuked the story via Twitter:

Rumor de asilo a Assange es falso. Todavía no hay ninguna decisión al respecto. Espero informe de Cancillería.

— Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) August 14, 2012

UPDATE: Correction: Assange is wanted by Swedish authorities to answer questions about allegations of sexual assault, not necessarily to stand trial for them. Mashable regrets the error.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, EdStock2

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Official: Julian Assange to be Granted Asylum

Julian Assange, US & World, WikiLeaks, world