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Ecuador's new President Lenin Moreno has called Julian Assange a "hacker" but stressed his country would continue providing asylum to the WikiLeaks founder fleeing international arrest.
Moreno, who was sworn in earlier this month, has broken with his predecessor and mentor Rafael Correa, who had said Assange was a "journalist" and granted him asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations.
"Mr. Assange is a hacker. That's something we reject and that I in particular personally reject," Moreno told journalists on Monday, after warning Assange during the presidential campaign to "not interfere" in Ecuadoran politics.
Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno speaks during a press conference at Carondelet Palace in Quito on May 29, 2017. /VCG Photo
"But I respect the situation he is in, which calls for respect of his human rights, but we also ask that he respects the situation he is in," Moreno added.
Assange dodged an eviction order in Ecuador's April election, after the right-wing candidate who had vowed to kick him out of the embassy lost to Moreno.
Earlier this month, Swedish prosecutors dropped a seven-year rape allegation against Assange and withdrew the European arrest warrant that had prompted his flight to the embassy and an appeal for asylum.
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However, British police have said they still intend to arrest Assange if he leaves the London embassy, where he has been holed up for five years, after he violated the terms of his probation in Britain in 2012 when he took refuge in the diplomatic mission.
"It seems the British government is not going to grant safe passage, meaning that Mr. Assange can continue living in the Ecuadoran embassy, and we will respect that condition," Moreno said.
The WikiLeaks founder has always proclaimed his innocence of the charges, saying his extradition to Sweden would have led to his transfer to the US, where he fears he could be tried for publishing a huge store of confidential military and diplomatic documents.
(CGTN)
