independent | The Ecuadorean Embassy has discovered a hidden microphone inside its
building where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is sheltering from
extradition to Sweden.
Politician Ricardo Patino said the microphone was found
inside the office of the Ecuadorean ambassador to the United Kingdom,
Ana Alban. It was found during a visit made by Patino to the embassy to
meet with Assange on 16 June.
"We have found a hidden
microphone in the London embassy," said Patino. "I did not bring this up
before because I didn't want my visit to London to hold talks on Julian
Assange to be confused with accusations over this surveillance device
found in the ambassador's office."
The Foreign Office in
London declined to comment immediately on the allegation and Prime
Minister David Cameron's spokesman said he did not comment on security
issues.
Assange has been living inside the embassy for
more than a year to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faces
allegations by two women of sexual assault. He denies this allegation.
If
sent to Sweden he fears he would then be extradited from there to the
United States to face potential charges over the release of thousands of
confidential US documents on WikiLeaks.
Wikileaks are
attempting to assist Snowden, who is believed to be stranded at a Moscow
airport and is seeking asylum in over 20 countries including Ecuador.
“We
regret to inform you that in our embassy in London we have found a
hidden microphone,” Patino told a news conference in Quito on Tuesday.
“I
didn't denounce this at the time because we didn't want the theme of
our visit to London to be confused with this matter,” said Patino, who
met during his time in London with British Foreign Secretary William
Hague to discuss Assange.
“Furthermore, we first wanted
to ascertain with precision what could be the origin of this
interception device in the office of our ambassador,” he said.
“We
are sorry to say so, but this is another instance of a loss of ethics
at the international level in relations between governments,” he added.
