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‘Last diplomat he knew’: Ecuador ousts London envoy, fuels rumors of Assange’s imminent eviction
22
November, 2018
Ecuador’s
President Lenin Moreno has terminated the credentials of his UK
ambassador, who has been at the center of negotiating the fate of
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, as concerns mount over the
whistleblower's safety.
The
decree, with which Moreno effectively sacked Ecuador’s London
ambassador Abbad Ortiz, was published by WikiLeaks on Wednesday. The
document does not offer any explanation as to why Ortiz, who had been
his country’s ambassador to the UK since 2015, is now being
permanently recalled. Nor does it name a successor for the outgoing
diplomat. The decree is effective immediately.
Ecuador's president has signed a decree terminating the ambassador to the United Kingdom, Carlos Abad. All diplomats known to Assange have now been terminated to transferred away from the embassy.
Background: justice4assange.com/Protection-Act…
WikiLeaks
tweeted that Abbad, appointed to the office under President Raffael
Correa, was the last diplomat the long-term self-exiled editor knew
in the embassy. “All diplomats known to Assange have now been
transferred away from the embassy,” the whistleblowing site
claimed.
This
new and sudden twist in the Assange saga has been met with concern by
his supporters, with some suggesting that Moreno is doing
Washington's bidding by removing people who might have stood by
Assange and opposed his potential handover to the British police –
which is expected to bring about a swift extradition to the US. The
dismissal has been called “a
silent pro-US coup.”
Meanwhile in #Ecuador @Lenin Moreno has replaced judges and election officials. Anyone still loyal to former President @MashiRafael Correa must be purged. This is a silent pro-US coup.
One
user argued that sending off diplomats Assange might have bonded with
and surrounding him with complete strangers is a form of
“psychological torture.”
Le président de l'Equateur a signé le décret mettant fin à la mission de son ambassadeur en GB. Tous les diplomates connus par #Assange ont désormais été transférés ailleurs.
This is psychological torture!!!
julian needs people whom he can trust.
's other TweetsCarlos Abad and others replaced with puppets who will "follow orders" from the puppet regime of Lenin Moreno (receiving instructions from Uncle Sam)
Assange’s
prolonged stay in Ecuador’s London embassy, where he has enjoyed
protection from possible arrest and persecution in the US since 2012,
has been hanging in the balance since the election of Moreno in 2017.
Moreno, a former ally of Correa, has distanced himself from the
anti-American policy of his populist predecessor and sought to reboot
relations with the US. Ecuador is looking for US support in getting
$3.9bn in international loans, and there have been reports that
Washington's assistance would be conditional to Ecuador’s handling
of the Assange case.
There
have also been reports of intense negotiations between senior UK and
Ecuadorian officials over the prospects of Assange's eviction. The
Times reported in summer that the talks were held at Foreign Office
level. While Moreno has described Assange as “more than a nuisance”
and “an inherited problem,” he repeatedly stated that Ecuador
would not withdraw its protection unless the whistleblower breaches a
set of stringent rules, which restrict his freedom of expression and
visitation rights. The rules, which Assange described as violating
his fundamental rights and freedoms, were laid out in August,
demanding he stays away from discussing politics and pays for his own
medical and other expenses. Late October, an Ecuadorian court
rejected Assange’s appeal to revise the “protocol”
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