Assange seeking asylum in Ecuador; mother speaks out
To RT's question of whether seeking asylum is a premature move on the part of Julian Assange, as he has not yet been charged with any crime, Christine Assange replied: "The concern is of course that given the flagrant abuses of [Julian Assange's] human and legal rights in the Swedish case for two years, their refusal to adhere to their own police procedures and their own prosecutorial standards, that were he to go to Sweden, where he would be jailed straightaway, uncharged and unquestioned, he would not have the opportunity then to seek political asylum."
Regarding her son's treatment in his native Australia, Christine said: "We have a puppet government in Australia, it's run by the US, but I would have liked to have seen the Australian government stand up and have some independence from US foreign policy... They should have protested vehemently to the UK government for its disgraceful display during the hearings... They should have protested to the US that calls are being made to incite murder upon my son. They should have protested that the grand jury being run by the US is not a due legal process, it has no judge or prosecutors, no defence material is allowed, and the jury comes from a pool of military contractors. They should have protested all of those things, and they've done nothing. In fact, they've aided and abetted the US in persecuting my son."
The interview was given after Julian Assange, who has been under house arrest in the UK since 2010 and who has recently lost his appeal against extradition to Sweden, has entered Ecuadorean Embassy in London on 19 June to request political asylum. According to British authorities, Assange may now face arrest due to violating conditions of his bail.
Assange asks for political asylum in Ecuador
Assange requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. According to RT, Assange wrote directly to Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, saying he was being persecuted and could not return to his homeland, where he would be vulnerable to extradition to "a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition."
The phone interview aired as part of RT's news broadcast on 20 June 2012 at 1300 Moscow time. This exclusive interview is available here.