London (CNN) The legal team of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has said expelling him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London would be "illegal" and would "violate international refugee law." The statement came after Ecuador's Foreign Ministry refused to comment on claims from WikiLeaks that Assange could soon be expelled from the country's embassy in London. WikiLeaks tweeted from its verified account Thursday, "BREAKING: A high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told @WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within "hours to days" using the #INAPapers offshore scandal as a pretext--and that it already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest." When asked about the speculation on Friday, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters that Assange "is a free man" and "can leave the embassy whenever he wants to." "We want the situation resolved as quickly as possible," he added.

Source: CNN April 05, 2019 10:18 UTC