Ecuador Tried To Give Julian Assange A Diplomatic Post In Russia

• 09.22.2018, 14:20
•  World

Ecuador in 2017 gave Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a diplomatic post in Russia but rescinded it after Britain refused to give him diplomatic immunity, reports Reuters based on a Ecuadorean government document.

The incident was revealed in a letter by Ecuador’s foreign ministry to a legislator who had asked for information about Ecuador’s decision last year to grant Assange citizenship.

Ecuador last Dec. 19 approved a "special designation in favor of Mr. Julian Assange so that he can carry out functions at the Ecuadorean Embassy in Russia," according to the letter written to opposition legislator Paola Vintimilla.

But Britain’s Foreign Office in a Dec. 21 note said it did not accept Assange as a diplomat and that it did not "consider that Mr. Assange enjoys any type of privileges and immunities under the Vienna Convention," reads the letter, citing a British diplomatic note.

Ecuador abandoned its decision shortly after, according to the letter.

"Special designation" refers to the Ecuadorean president’s right to name political allies to a fixed number of diplomatic posts even if they are not career diplomats.