Julian Assange who has been holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012 after fleeing sexual assault charges in Sweden will leave his “home” soon.
He announced this at a news conference which also had Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño in attendance.
Mr. Assange faces extradition to Sweden, which is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct.
The British police continue to post a 24-hour guard at the embassy at a cost of more than $10 million. Mr. Assange argues that he has not been charged with any crime and that he fears that if he leaves the embassy, he will be extradited to the United States. Investigations continue there into the disclosure of classified material to WikiLeaks, which posted material on its website and arranged for other newspapers, including The New York Times, to publish some of it.
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who was given asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy two years ago said at the briefing that his health was suffering after two years not stepping outside the walls of the embassy.
Assange denies the allegation of sexual misconduct.