Ecuador has granted citizenship to Julian Assange, who has been holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for over five years. Quito has said naturalization should provide Assange with another layer of protection. Ecuador on Thursday announced it had granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange citizenship in what appeared to have been an unsuccessful move to usher him out of their London embassy without the risk of arrest. A day earlier, Assange alluded to the citizenship announcement by posting a photograph on Twitter of him wearing an Ecuadorian football jersey. “We have reminded Mr Assange that he has no reason to interfere in Ecuadorian politics because his status does not allow it,” Moreno told a Spanish newspaper.

Source: Egypt Independent January 12, 2018 02:26 UTC