Ecuador has cut off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's internet access, won't say why

Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks, is releasing personal information

(Image credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)

last updated 18 October 2016

So maybe Pamela Anderson didn't kill Julian Assange with a poisoned vegan sandwich after all. Early Monday, WikiLeaks poured fuel on a smoldering conspiracy fire by announcing that Assange's "internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party," and that it had "activated the appropriate contingency plans."

A few hours later, WikiLeaks confirmed that the "state party" is the nation that has granted Assange amnesty while he fights extradition to Sweden to face rape charges he denies.

Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy for more than four years, and it isn't clear why they cut off his internet now. Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that "the Government of Ecuador ratifies the validity of the asylum granted to Julian Assange four years ago" and "we reaffirm that his protection by the Ecuadorean state will continue while the circumstances that led to the granting of asylum remain." This vague response has sparked its own theories, the most prevalent being that Ecuador isn't too fond of Donald Trump, and Assange is clearly aiming his leaks only at Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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Or maybe after four years, things are just getting a little cramped in the embassy and this is a polite hint that Assange has overstayed his welcome.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.