The UK has spent over $8 million on monitoring the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Julian Assange has been holed up for 20 months. His stay is having a knock-on effect on British taxpayers, reportedly costing them over $16,000 a day.
In response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the Huffington Post UK, the London Metropolitan Police revealed the financial consequences of Assange’s stay in the Ecuadorian Embassy. The WikiLeaks founder entered the Embassy in June 2012 in a desperate plea to avoid his extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over accusations of sexual assault.
This Day in #WikiLeaks: £5.3m spent on police surveillance of Ecuadorian Embassy; Cables, interview with Moazzam Begg http://t.co/MoasbE36az
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 25, 2014
London Police have maintained round-the-clock surveillance on the
Ecuadorian Embassy since Assange’s arrival, which cost a total of
5.3 million pounds ($8.3 million) between June 2012 and December
2013. According to data released by the MET Police, around
900,000 pounds ($1.5 million) were paid out in overtime wages to
officers.
If Assange stays in the Embassy building until 2022 – when the
statute of limitations on his extradition request expires – it
could cost the London police about 36.5 million pounds ($60
million), reports the Huffington Post UK.
Assange has essentially been imprisoned in the Ecuadorian Embassy
as UK police have resolved to arrest him and extradite him should
he set foot outside the building. Moreover, Assange believes that
once in Sweden, the authorities would hand him over to the US,
where he could potentially be tried for espionage in connection
with the thousands of classified diplomatic cables divulged by
WikiLeaks.
At the beginning of this month Swedish MPs urged prosecutors to
visit Assange’s de facto home in Ecuador’s London embassy to
question him, arguing that the whistleblower will not come to
Sweden voluntarily.
"It is in the interest of everyone involved in this process that
the prosecutor reaches a conclusion to either file charges or
dismiss the case, and it is obvious that Assange will not come to
Sweden," Staffan Danielsson, from the Center Party, said in
a statement.
However, Swedish prosecutors have criticized MPs for overstepping
the mark and interfering in the course of justice.
"The fact that an MP openly questions a prosecutor's
decision- making in an individual case is remarkable," said
Anders Perklev, the Swedish Prosecutor-General. "It violates
the foundation of power division between the legislative and the
executive authorities in Sweden."
Assange has been accused of rape by one woman and charges of
sexual assault by another in connection with a trip to Sweden in
2010. The whistleblower denies the charges against him.