—Reuters File Photo

LONDON: Britain behaved like it was still an empire in its threat to raid Ecuador’s embassy and arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the Ecuadoran ambassador to London said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Ana Alban told BBC radio that the threat, made in August just before Ecuador granted asylum to Australian-born Assange, was “the biggest mistake”committed by Britain since she became ambassador.

“They were trying to show this little country that the British are still an empire and we should learn to be good boys during our stay here,” said Alban.

Former computer hacker Assange, 41, walked into the London embassy on June 19 claiming asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over alleged rape and sexual assault.

British officials angered Ecuador in August by suggesting in a letter that they could ultimately withdraw diplomatic status from the embassy and enter it to arrest Assange, though they have not done so.

Ecuador granted Assange asylum on August 16 but Britain refuses to grant him safe passage out of the country, and he remains holed up in the embassy with the two countries in a diplomatic stalemate.

Assange denies the alleged sex crimes and claims he could eventually be passed from Sweden to the United States for prosecution over the WikiLeaks website’s publication of hundreds of thousands of classified US documents.

WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by publishing a flood of secret military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a huge cache of diplomatic cables from US embassies across the world.

Embassy officials told the BBC that the presence of British police — who have remained outside the embassy since June 19, poised to arrest Assange if he tries to escape — was “intimidating”.
Alban even found one policeman right outside her toilet window and had to use a different one, she laughingly told the BBC.

The ambassador said she was taken completely by surprise by Assange’s asylum request, and her immediate worries had been over practical issues such as where to find bed linen for the WikiLeaks founder.

The embassy still does not have a washing machine to handle their guest’s laundry, she added.

Britain will not give Assange safe passage out of the country and is determined to extradite him to Sweden, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on August 16. Ecuador’s decision to grant Assange political asylum should not be used as a way for him to escape the legal process, Hague added. Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over sexual assault allegations. – Reuters photo

LONDON: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has no way of leaving his refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London without being arrested, even if Quito grants him asylum shortly, lawyers say.

The Australian has been in the embassy for eight weeks since losing a legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape allegations.

Assange denies the accusations made by two female WikiLeaks supporters. He fears Sweden could send him on to the United States, where he believes authorities want to punish him for publishing thousands of secret US diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks in 2010 in a major embarrassment for Washington.

President Rafael Correa, who is openly sympathetic to Assange, is expected to decide on his asylum request this week.

However, approval would offer no legal protection in Britain

where police will arrest him once they get a chance.

“The question of asylum is arguably a red herring,” said former British government lawyer Carl Gardner.

Assange, who is also liable to arrest for skipping bail, would still have to find a way of getting from central London to South America without passing through British territory.

“I can’t see the UK backing down and just allowing him safe passage out of the country,” said Rebecca Niblock, an extradition specialist at London law firm Kingsley Napley.

“I think the UK will see their obligations under the European extradition system as overriding any diplomatic relations with Ecuador, who haven’t really been considering their diplomatic relations with the UK, apparently.”

“CLIMB OUT OF A WINDOW”

Assange would be protected from arrest if travelling in a diplomatic car, but the embassy is on the first floor of a building that is being watched by police day and night.

The tall red-brick block just behind the Harrods department store also houses the Colombian embassy and private apartments.

A police van was parked outside the main entrance on Wednesday

and police officers were patrolling the area in pairs.

The property has several gated entrances and a private car park, but the Ecuadorean embassy is not linked internally with any of them, making the front entrance its only point of exit, a security manager at the building told Reuters.

“There is no other exit. He is going to have to come out of the main entrance,” said the manager, who asked not to be named.

“There is no way to bring a vehicle in because the car park is private and it is not connected in any way to their premises.”

He added: “He can climb out of a window, of course, but there are CCTV cameras everywhere.”

Even if he somehow managed to get out of the building and into a waiting car unnoticed by police, he would have to leave the vehicle at some point to board a flight out of Britain, offering more opportunities for his arrest.

Other scenarios lawyers are discussing on the Internet include smuggling him out in a diplomatic bag, which would be illegal, or appointing him as an Ecuadorean diplomat to give him immunity. But lawyers and diplomats said neither was realistic.

Even if Assange were willing to try his luck packed in a crate all the way to Quito, a risky plan by any measure, it seems unlikely Ecuador would attempt such a scheme.

Nigeria tried it in 1984, when it had a former minister accused of corruption kidnapped in London and shipped out in a crate, but the plan was foiled and ridicule ensued.

FEARS OF DEATH PENALTY UNFOUNDED

A diplomatic appointment by Ecuador in London would not help either because Britain would have to approve that, and it has no incentive to do so.

The possibility of appointing Assange as an Ecuadorean envoy to the United Nations has been raised, but that would be open to legal challenge.

Assange has not said publicly why he chose to seek refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy. Whatever his motivations, lawyers said his supporters’ warnings that he could face the death penalty if sent to the United States were unfounded.

“There may be people in the USA who think he should be tried for capital crimes, convicted, and executed,” wrote lawyer Francis FitzGibbon on his blog. “But while he remains in the jurisdiction of the UK or Sweden, that’s not going to happen.”

Both countries are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prevents them from extraditing anybody to a country where they would risk the death penalty.

The United States would have to give assurances that Assange would not face ill treatment or death in order to obtain his extradition from either London or Stockholm.

If Assange’s main motivation is fear of a transfer to the United States, his determination to remain in Britain rather than going to Sweden to defend himself is puzzling.

“Why would the US not just request his extradition from here where it’s pretty easy? It’s not easier from Sweden,” said Niblock.

The British government has said it was determined to fulfil its legal obligation to extradite Assange to Sweden.

Photo by author (Trying to snap this “I have no clue” photo the seventh time on a four second timer finally worked out).

A fine original or for that matter even an adapted screenplay unravels in multiple layers. For example let’s suppose I am in the process of writing one right now; one layer would be what the title and all the clickables subliminally suggest, the other would be the information that comes along when releasing the genie from the bottle, and yet another would be the reality I am living as of this moment.

The title frame has already gone past your eyes, so let’s begin with a room temperature of 20 degrees, white energy savers, blue walls, dead paper lamps, and a woman singing “I’m searching a way, they’re long roads to go…” as electronic beats synchronize and set in motion the musical aura…

…“To open the first bottle click here,” said Faisal Shahzad. – Photo by Reuters

The first informative lesson was way back in 2010 – feels like yesterday though when she arrived. But wait, that tune sounds a bit like Fragma’s Miracle…Hasaan, you’re mesmerizing somewhere again, come back, come back…pure silence? No not quite, the chiller is blowing wind like never before, also I thought I heard the door bang shut at least twice…funny because I was the only one here. So begins another melancholy humming taking you to the next scene…

…“If you really want to know why we are distressed you should release the second genie,” she said. – Photo by Reuters

“I’ve been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see, painted faces fill the places I can’t reach…” that continues playing, it’s getting colder, I think I really need to use the washroom now…

…“But first let’s cut to some hard hitting facts,” crying said this man. – Photo by Reuters

These multiple windows and multiple tabs performing multi-tasks are really confusing me now. Worst of all, the music playing is just not settling in. Oh no, now there are two youtube videos embedded on facebook playing simultaneously and I cannot track either of them. There, fixed it. How well did she sum up the whole newsworthy sadness?

…“We might have an answer,” they said. – Photo by Reuters

Back on my seat, re-charged with a new beverage in a mug and some new electronic sounds. The heavens poured and poured and poured every single raindrop on Pakistan. The Great Floods had arrived, and after a few weeks came along relief aid for the ones whose lives were mostly washed away. It was then that a small journey began…

…“I can tell you the story of this journey,” said a woman at a camp. – Photo by AP

Enough, I need to have an audible bite of Paul Van Dyke’s Forbidden Fruit. Dance genie dance! Genie loves the Forbidden Fruit and eagerly wants to tell you how the journey really ends…

…“Of course I will tell you what you missed out,” wading through the water he said. – Photo by Reuters

“Yawwwwwwn,” time For A Different Feeling, which begins with some drum beats, chords, and flows to sweet sounding progressions. The next chapter starts with an eerie moustache. The blondie who is dying for the limelight once again, starving and growling for attention. Not Hilton, not Lohan but…

…“Hey there Braveheart, yes you do have the best looking moustache. Uhumm…sorry about that, I thought I was alone with my tie. Let me tell you what she thinks of me,” sniffling away said the Pastor. – Photo by Reuters

“Cause it feels like a run of a lifetime, and nothing’s gonna save us now, let the waves come crashing down…” screamed melodiously, the girl from the computer speaker. The chiller is off, it’s too darn cold now. Act eight, scene one; six months have gone by, Pakistan is largely still unsettled, but that doesn’t stop people from giving a helping hand…

…“Jump around…jump around. Here’s what they did for us,” the children said. – Photo by Reuters

“We’re still the same, don’t have a change, I want you just the way you are every day now, say you stay, don’t go away…” plays an old school song. Why am I biting my nails sicko? Oh, my senior colleague should be arriving any moment now. What an extraordinary coincidence I must say…

…Another cork is popped off another bottle as we approach another small trip. “So Zeresh, did you finally realize who the woman from Dhobi Ghat reminds me of?” said I. – Photo by Reuters

“I waited for you at the record shop, walked through the doors and the records stopped, heartbreak on Vinyl was the name of the store, now the store is gone and we can’t meet there anymore…” he says while the DJ spins the record. Back from a four hour break, break my _____. I was doing the needful of letting half a million people read some fresh features and glance at a new set of snapshots. Flipping to the next chapter, a new hero or as most countries view him, a villain rises. Although he had appeared earlier before but this time he was stronger than Bin Laden having struck down the two towers. Most importantly, Pakistan got a fair share of the spotlight in the whole hullabaloo which lasted for several months…

…“My name is Prince Julian and I hail from Narnia. Do you want me to spill out all your dirty little secrets?” said Assange. – Photo by AP

“I need blue waters, a dance on the shore, step inside of my dreams once more, show your true colors, carry me away, take me back where the music plays…” – I’m lost in Ibiza again as the ravers go wild in bright yellow sunlight and blue and white waves crash upon the shore. But wait, that’s not how Chronicles of Wikiland ends, there has to be more for the viewer…

…“What’s that, you want to hear more? Wiki, leak it now!” said the founder. – Photo by Reuters

Van Buuren kicks it in full gear, Laura V. is drowning in love…and it feels really soothing to the ears. It’s like ear candy that rushes eventually to the head. OMG! Another genie. And away you go…

…“This is what I ask for in my prayers,” said a man feeling abandoned. – Photo by AP

“I hold on, hold on to this feeling, I just can’t let it go, though I know that it’s wrong,” pumping through my headphones – right after a colleague barges in my room and disturbs the whole tempo. Thankfully he’s gone, and I’m back on track which leads me to the next act and scene…

…“I AM the social network! I have every right to ask you what the ______ are you doing on facebook?” said Jesse Eisenberg (HAH!). – Photo by Reuters

Tiesto is now advising me that if I close my eyes I’ll see a beautiful world. I trust you Mr DJ. So I close my eyes, everything else she did flashes by me which of course deserves a mention but it’s too haphazard and I can’t seem to organize the order of things…

…And just like that, she was gone! – Photo/Illustration by author

Hasaan Haider is a Multimedia Content Producer at Dawn.com