I'm not surprised the patience of Ecuador finally ended. One notable claim in the article cited above:
Assange's stay at the embassy cost Ecuador some $6.5m
That's a lot of money. Full $1m per year. Average salary in OZ is about US$50k so Assange enjoyed a very very lavished lifestyle during his stay in defacto voluntary prison, spending 20 times more than an average Australian at home. To me, it sounds like an exaggeration: how could such poor quality lifestyle be so expensive? But even if the cost have been inflated by Ecuadorians, still it was a cost that has becoming more and more useless and wasted. All diplomatic efforts to end it had failed and the Assange's mental health deteriorated very badly beyond a tolerable state. His repeated violations of the basic social terms that would apply to any hotel guest, culminating in his hygiene (smearing faeces on the walls) are no doubt result of his mental health badly deteriorated. So, IMO the decision by Ecuador to evict him resulting in a change for him (different prison is no better but still a bit of change) will improve his mental health. E.g., he will have an opportunity to do walks around prison courtyard, i.e. experience larger space from time to time, and not be confined to just 1 bedroom + bathroom.
Regarding what happens to him, I've heard that Ecuador make a deal with UK that they evict Assange only if he's not extradited to a country that supports death penalty. If UK is bound by such deal, then they cannot extradite him to US. But perhaps US/UK lawyers can work around it by first extraditing him to Sweden, and then to US bwcause Sweden is not bound by this apparent deal. That would be bad, because I think Assange does not deserve to be prosecuted for his whistle-blowing. I do not like everything he's done (e.g. I condemn him for his disregard for privacy & safety of his informers, and his pro-Russian bias) but overall he's done a good service to the world by exposing the corruptions inside political and military circles in US. So, he should be protected from the wrath of said political circles who want to punish him. They are biased in this case and their freedom of speech means nothing here because they find everything to show the freedom does not apply to the "spy" they want to punish so badly.
Assange's stay at the embassy cost Ecuador some $6.5m
That's a lot of money. Full $1m per year. Average salary in OZ is about US$50k so Assange enjoyed a very very lavished lifestyle during his stay in defacto voluntary prison, spending 20 times more than an average Australian at home. To me, it sounds like an exaggeration: how could such poor quality lifestyle be so expensive? But even if the cost have been inflated by Ecuadorians, still it was a cost that has becoming more and more useless and wasted. All diplomatic efforts to end it had failed and the Assange's mental health deteriorated very badly beyond a tolerable state. His repeated violations of the basic social terms that would apply to any hotel guest, culminating in his hygiene (smearing faeces on the walls) are no doubt result of his mental health badly deteriorated. So, IMO the decision by Ecuador to evict him resulting in a change for him (different prison is no better but still a bit of change) will improve his mental health. E.g., he will have an opportunity to do walks around prison courtyard, i.e. experience larger space from time to time, and not be confined to just 1 bedroom + bathroom.
Regarding what happens to him, I've heard that Ecuador make a deal with UK that they evict Assange only if he's not extradited to a country that supports death penalty. If UK is bound by such deal, then they cannot extradite him to US. But perhaps US/UK lawyers can work around it by first extraditing him to Sweden, and then to US bwcause Sweden is not bound by this apparent deal. That would be bad, because I think Assange does not deserve to be prosecuted for his whistle-blowing. I do not like everything he's done (e.g. I condemn him for his disregard for privacy & safety of his informers, and his pro-Russian bias) but overall he's done a good service to the world by exposing the corruptions inside political and military circles in US. So, he should be protected from the wrath of said political circles who want to punish him. They are biased in this case and their freedom of speech means nothing here because they find everything to show the freedom does not apply to the "spy" they want to punish so badly.
