UK Cannot Stop Assange Flight to Ecuador, Says Top Lawyer

August 04, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

A top Spanish lawyer acting for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Britain would have to allow Assange safe passage to Ecuador should the South American country offer him asylum. Assange, who faces extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations, has been in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for six weeks now. Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward reports.

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Julian Assange

Julian Paul Assange is an Australian editor, activist, publisher and journalist. He is best known as the editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks, which publishes submissions of secret information, news leaks and classified media from anonymous news sources and whistleblowers.... Explore this topic

WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks is an international, online, non-profit organisation which publishes secret information, news leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources. Its website, initiated in 2006 in Iceland by the organisation Sunshine Press, claimed a database of more than 1.2 million... Explore this topic

Ecuador

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It and Chile are the only two countries in South America that do not have ... Explore this topic

Asylum

Rights of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries. This right has its roots in a longs... Explore this topic

Extradition

Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties. Where extradition is compelled by laws, such as among sub-national jurisdiction... Explore this topic

South America

South America, earlier known simply as America, is a continent located in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by ... Explore this topic

Sweden

Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. Sweden borders Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund. At 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union... Explore this topic

London

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, and the largest city, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history g... Explore this topic

Embassy

This type also includes High Commissions, which are the equivalent of embassies between two countries in the British Commonwealth. Explore this topic

Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera English is an international 24-hour English-language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is the sister channel of the Arabic-language Al Jazeera. The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current... Explore this topic

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Julian Assange

WikiLeaks

Ecuador