Assange Calls on Obama from Ecuador in U.K.

Well, by international law embassies belong to sovereign territories of their parent countries, and in this case, the Ecuadorian embassy in U.K. is a piece of Ecuador. And on Sunday, from that sovereign soil, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange delivered a warning to the federal government of U.S. to stop its witch-hunt of WikiLeaks people. Assange spoke from his balcony in Ecuador while U.K. police waited below, intent on packing him off to Sweden – but they were in U.K. and Assange was in Ecuador. It was a rare show of international law in full form.

Of course, in such a knotty international situation, U.S. bashing is popular policy, but Russia too got its share, as Assange compared himself to Pussy Riot, the Russian punk band jailed for requesting intervention of the Almighty to push out Putin.

Mentioning that the New York Times newspaper also deserved protection from oppression, Assange said the United States was waging a war to silence journalists.

He said, “I ask President Obama to do the right thing: the United States must renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks.”

Dressed in a maroon tie and blue shirt, Assange praised Ecuador for granting him asylum and said, “The sun came up on a different world and the courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.” Assange praised the Latin American nations which rallied behind him to prevent U.K. entering the Ecuador embassy by force, and said if United States continued along its present path of action, it could drag the rest of the world into a new oppressive era.

Referring to U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley manning, Assange said, “If Bradley Manning did as he is accused, he is a hero and an example to all of us and one of the world’s foremost political prisoners … Manning must be released.”

He did not speak on the alleged rape charges brought against him in Sweden.