WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced Monday he plans to leave the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has spent the past two years living under diplomatic asylum.
The 43-year-old blamed his deteriorating health as the ultimate reason for fleeing, adding that living inside the embassy without being allowed to leave had taken a tremendous toll on him, National Public Radio reports.
Assange has been living in exile at the embassy due to numerous charges including US accusations that he had damaged national security, as well as allegations of rape and assault in Sweden.
“As you can imagine, being detained in various ways in this country without charge for four years and in this embassy for two years, which has no outside area, therefore no sunlight — it’s an environment in which any healthy person would find themselves soon enough with certain difficulties.”
The typically vigorous and lively anti-secrecy radical displayed a much different side while speaking to reporters Monday. At moments he tended to appear very weak and sluggish, while also coming across as very defensive when speaking about his allegations, adding that he still hadn’t received any official or public charges yet, according to NPR.
Seated next to Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, Assange did not give a specific time frame for departing, but WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson did talk about what needs to happen first.
“The plan is for him to leave as soon as the UK government decides to honor its obligations in relation to international agreements and calls off the siege outside,” he told the BBC. “It’s as simple as that.”
Patino also spoke out about Assange’s time spent in seclusion.
“These are two lost years for everyone,” Patino said. “There has not been justice for anyone.”
“This situation must come to an end,” he added. “Two years is simply too long.”
The announcement that Assange plans to leave because he is sick has led people to believe that he could somehow use this as a ploy to help fight extradition.