The Ecuadorean government on Tuesday said that it cut off WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange’s Internet access at its embassy in London after the whistle-blowing Web site published a trove of damaging e-mails from the campaign of US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The Ecuadorean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that while it stands by its 2012 decision to grant Assange asylum based on legitimate concerns he faces political persecution, it respects other nations’ sovereignty and does not interfere or support any candidate in foreign elections.
“The decision to make this information public is the exclusive responsibility of the WikiLeaks organization,” the ministry said in a statement.
The recognition of the reprimand came less than 24 hours after WikiLeaks tweeted that Ecuador had cut off Assange’s access to the Internet on Saturday after the publication of Clinton’s speeches to Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs.
In follow-up messages posted on Tuesday, the group claimed that US Secretary of State John Kerry had intervened to ask Ecuador to stop Assange from publishing documents about Clinton.
Citing “multiple US sources,” WikiLeaks said the request was made on the sidelines of a visit by Kerry and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa last month to Colombia to show their support for a peace deal with rebels.
The US Department of State denied the accusation and Correa’s government said it was acting on its own and not ceding to foreign pressures.
The ministry did not specify the extent of the “temporary restrictions” on Assange, saying only that they would not affect WikiLeaks’ ability to carry out its activities.
“While our concerns about Wikileaks are longstanding, any suggestion that Secretary Kerry or the State Department were involved in shutting down Wikileaks is false,” US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said in an e-mail.
Speaking to reporters later, deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Kerry never even raised the issue or met with Correa during his visit to Colombia.
“There just was no meeting,” he said. “They didn’t discuss any of this stuff.”
Assange has been holed up at the modest embassy suite at No. 3 Hans Crescent, London, for more than four years after skipping bail to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations, a position which — until now — has not prevented him from continuing to play a pivotal role in exposing state secrets and backroom trade deals.
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