Julian Assange: I may leave embassy if US government ends standoff

Julian Assange: I may leave embassy if US government ends standoff

Julian Assange has said he will not consider leaving the Ecuadorean embassy in London unless the US government drops its “immoral” investigation into WikiLeaks.

Assange has been sheltering in the embassy since June as part of his attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations. He fears he will ultimately be sent to the United States to face interrogation over the whistleblowing website, which he founded.

In a CNN interview in the embassy, Assange said the standoff could end if the US government drops its investigation. “It’s an immoral investigation,” he said. “It breaches the first amendment, it breaches all the principles that the US government says it stands for and it absolutely breaches the principles the founding fathers stood for and which most of the US people believe in.”