London ends 24-hour watch on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

London police are ending their 24-hour watch of the Ecuadorean Embassy, where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been living in asylum since 2012. Assange was accused of rape in Sweden but was never formally charged; were he to be extradited, however, Sweden could send him on to the United States to face charges for the publishing of thousands of classified documents. While Assange's sexual assault charges were dropped by Swedish prosecutors over the summer, rape charges could still be pursued through August 2020.

The 24-hour surveillance of the Ecuadorean Embassy cost British taxpayers $17 million, The New York Times reports. The Ecuadorean embassy, which granted Assange — an Australian national — political asylum, reportedly considered multiple plans for smuggling him to Ecuador, including having him leap across rooftops to escape via helipad or disguising him in a busy crowd. Another alleged plot would have had Assange appointed as an official representative to the United Nations, so he could have traveled to Ecuador using diplomatic immunity.

"A significant amount of time has passed since Julian Assange entered the embassy, and despite the efforts of many people there is no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue," the London police service said in a statement.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up