Assange seeking asylum after fleeing to Ecuadorian embassy

Mr Assange walked into the embassy, in Knightsbridge, and asked for asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration.

The dramatic move followed a long-running legal bid by Mr Assange, 40, to halt his extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex crime allegations.

The UK Supreme Court decided on May 30 that extradition was lawful and could go ahead but Mr Assange was given time to consider the judgment.

The Swedish authorities want him to answer accusations of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August 2010 while on a visit to give a lecture.

Assange, whose WikiLeaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, says the sex was consensual and claims the allegations against him are politically motivated.

A man speaking from the embassy said over the telephone he had arrived at the embassy yesterday and was requesting political asylum.

Ecuador’s foreign minister Ricardo Patino also confirmed the Australian had taken refuge at its embassy and that the country’s Government was weighing up the request.

A message was posted on the Wikileaks Twitter account, saying: “ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.”

A statement issued on behalf of the embassy said: “This afternoon Mr Julian Assange arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy seeking political asylum from the Ecuadorian government.

“As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito.

“While the department assesses Mr Assange’s application, Mr Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorian government.

“The decision to consider Mr Assange’s application for protective asylum should in no way be interpreted as the Government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden.”

Assange was on bail and living with friends before his extradition.

Last November, the High Court upheld a ruling by District Judge Howard Riddle – sitting at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court, south London, the previous February – that the computer expert should be extradited to face investigation.

The High Court declared that it would not be unfair or unlawful to extradite Assange, a decision backed by the Supreme Court, which ruled by a 5-2 majority that his extradition was lawful and could go ahead.

He was given 14 days on May 30 to consider the Supreme Court judgment before making a final decision on his next move.

His lawyer, Dinah Rose QC, told the Supreme Court’s justices that Assange was considering an application for his case to be reopened on the basis that there had been a flawed hearing.

Assange had until June 28 to ask Strasbourg to consider his case on the basis that he has not had a fair hearing from the UK courts.

It would then have been for the European Court to decide whether or not to postpone extradition while another hearing goes ahead.

The court has the power to issue a direction to the UK Government that he should not be surrendered to Sweden if it decides to consider his claim.