{"id":45371,"date":"2019-04-15T06:34:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T11:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=45371"},"modified":"2019-04-15T06:42:56","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T11:42:56","slug":"assange-is-a-scapegoat-distraction-for-scandal-ridden-ecuadorian-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=45371","title":{"rendered":"Assange is a scapegoat, distraction for scandal-ridden Ecuadorian government"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/op-ed\/456209-assange-ecuador-lenin-moreno\/\">Assange is a scapegoat, distraction for scandal-ridden Ecuadorian government<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2019.04\/xxs\/5caf07c5dda4c8e5098b45ca.jpg\" alt=\"Assange is a scapegoat, distraction for scandal-ridden Ecuadorian government\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FILE PHOTO: A truck carrying a poster relating to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is driven away from the Ecuadorian embassy, London, April 5, 2019 \u00a9 Reuters \/ Peter Nicholls&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he faces a major corruption probe, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has met another demand from Washington by booting WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange out of Ecuador\u2019s embassy in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Times were different when the WikiLeaks founder walked into Ecuador\u2019s London embassy seeking asylum in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fearing that his native Australia wouldn\u2019t protect him from extradition to the United States, where he faces imprisonment or even<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/2011\/jan\/11\/julian-assange-wikileaks-execution-gantanamo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;execution<\/a>, Assange appealed to Ecuador\u2019s then-president Rafael Correa to grant him refuge from&nbsp;<em>\u201cpolitical persecution.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ecuador agreed, granting him<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webcitation.org\/69xdGRSLN?url=http:\/\/www.mmrree.gob.ec\/2012\/com042.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;asylum<\/a>&nbsp;on the grounds that his \u201clife, safety or personal integrity\u201d could be compromised at any moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having also kicked US troops off its soil just a few years earlier, the tiny South American nation\u2019s gesture was applauded by many, including domestically.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/456246-assange-arrest-annie-machon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>ALSO ON RT.COM<\/strong><strong>Assange arrest \u2018absolutely disgusting\u2019 &amp; could be \u2018tit-for-tat\u2019 \u2013 former MI5 agent to RT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast forward seven years, and Ecuador has now handed him over for almost certain extradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The country\u2019s former consul general in London says the move is not only unwarranted but also illegal under international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>This is a violation of the right and the institution of asylum<\/em>,\u201d Fidel Narvaez told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having been delivered to British authorities, the Ecuadorian diplomat says Assange will likely be extradited to the US where&nbsp;<em>\u201che will surely be sentenced to dozens of years of prison, at the least.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Narvaez, who was among the Ecuadorian officials who received Assange in 2012, the move is part of a return to a&nbsp;<em>\u201csubservient\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;foreign policy by the Ecuadorian government under Lenin Moreno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assange is a scapegoat, distraction for scandal-ridden Ecuadorian government FILE PHOTO: A truck carrying a poster relating to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is driven away from the Ecuadorian embassy, London, April 5, 2019 \u00a9 Reuters \/ Peter Nicholls&nbsp; As he faces a major corruption probe, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has met another demand from Washington [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[2001,25626,8114,880],"class_list":["post-45371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitics","category-liberty","tag-julian-assange","tag-pablo-vivanco","tag-rt-news","tag-wikileaks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45372,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45371\/revisions\/45372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}