Audio By Carbonatix
Four months holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London has been "a little like living in a space station" but beats prison, fugitive WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Thursday.
Assange sought refuge in the embassy in June, after losing a court battle against extradition to Sweden. Since then, he has been living in a single room with a frosted-glass window while the business of the diplomatic mission goes on around him.
"It's a little like living in a space station, because there's no natural light and you've got to make all your own stuff. You can't go out to shops and so on," Assange told CNN in an interview Thursday. "But I have been in solitary confinement. I know what life is like for prisoners. It's a lot better than it is for prisoners."
Embassy staffers would not allow CNN to view his living quarters, but Assange appeared relaxed and healthy despite his restricted circumstances. His comments came the same day WikiLeaks began disclosing a new round of U.S. military documents dealing with handling prisoners in American military custody.
Though the first of the newly published documents include no bombshells, Assange said the records his group will put out are "documents of incredible historical importance" and demonstrate a "climate of unaccountability" within the U.S. government.
Ecuador granted Assange asylum in August, amid a diplomatic row between the United Kingdom and his South American hosts. British courts have approved his extradition to Sweden, and Assange faces arrest if he sets foot outside the embassy.
Assange has not been charged with a crime, but Sweden has said it wants to question him about allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman there. Assange has denied the allegations and says they're a ruse to get him to Sweden, which would then extradite him to the United States.
A U.S. Army intelligence analyst, Pfc. Bradley Manning, is currently awaiting trial on charges that he leaked hundreds of thousands of classified military and State Department documents while serving in Iraq. Many of those documents ended up on the WikiLeaks website, and Manning could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty.
Assange said his standoff could end if the United States dropped its investigation of WikiLeaks.
"It's an immoral investigation," he said. "It breaches the First Amendment, it breaches all the principles that the U.S. government says it stands for and it absolutely breaches the principles the Founding Fathers stood for and which most of the U.S. people believe in."
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
OSP’s preventive actions saved Ghana millions – Sammy Darko
14 minutes -
Galamsey cuts off cocoa farms in Mfantseman, farmers suffer heavy losses
60 minutes -
Ghanaian delegation set for January 20, 2026 trip to Latvia in Nana Agyei case – Ablakwa
2 hours -
Accra turns white as Dîner en Blanc delivers night of elegance and culture
4 hours -
War-torn Myanmar voting in widely criticised ‘sham’ election
6 hours -
Justice by guesswork is dangerous – Constitution Review Chair calls for data-driven court reforms
6 hours -
Justice delayed is justice denied, the system is failing litigants – Constitution Review Chair
7 hours -
Reform without data is a gamble – Constitution Review Chair warns against rushing Supreme Court changes
7 hours -
Rich and voiceless: How Putin has kept Russia’s billionaires on side in the war against Ukraine
7 hours -
Cruise ship hits reef on first trip since leaving passenger on island
8 hours -
UK restricts DR Congo visas over migrant return policy
8 hours -
Attack on Kyiv shows ‘Russia doesn’t want peace’, Zelensky says
8 hours -
Two dead in 50-vehicle pile up on Japan highway
8 hours -
Fearing deportation, Hondurans in the US send more cash home than ever before
8 hours -
New York blanketed in snow, sparking travel chaos
8 hours
