QUITO: Ecuador has suspended Julian Assange`s citizenship and accused him and people connected to his WikiLeaks group of collaborating in attempts to destabilise the Andean nation`s government, after years of offering him shelter. To be noted that a bearded and frail-looking Assange was arrested by British police on Thursday after Ecuador terminated his asylum at its London embassy, where he had lived since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault investigation.
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Here it is to be noted that Assange`s Ecuadorean citizenship was suspended on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told reporters. To some, Australian-born Assange is a hero for exposing what supporters cast as abuse of power and for championing free speech. To others, he is a dangerous figure who has undermined the security of the United States and has too many ties to Russia. WikiLeaks angered Washington by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare often highly critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family.
However it is worth mention here that Assange`s lawyer in Quito, Carlos Poveda, told reporters asylum was terminated in reprisal for corruption allegations against President Lenin Moreno and that his life will be in danger if he is extradited to the United States. Assange was offered refuge in 2012 by Ecuador`s then-president Rafael Correa, but his relationship with Ecuador has soured under Moreno, who has said Assange violated the terms of his asylum. Assange received Ecuadorean citizenship in January 2018.
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