Scotland Yard stop guarding Assange embassy hideout

Scotland Yard have stopped guarding the Ecuadorean embassy in central London where fugitive WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been holed up since <g data-gr-id="25">2012</g> but the UK police maintain they will still use “overt and covert tactics” to try and arrest him.

The Metropolitan police <g data-gr-id="21">has</g> maintained a permanent, 24-7 police presence outside the mission since Assange sought refuge there to evade extradition to Sweden on rape charges.

“Whilst the MPS (Met Police Service) remains committed to executing the arrest warrant and presenting Julian Assange before the court, it is only right that the policing operation to achieve this is continually reviewed against the diplomatic and legal efforts to resolve the situation,” a Met Police statement said.

“As a result of this continual review the MPS has today withdrawn the physical presence of officers from outside the Embassy. The operation to arrest Julian Assange does however continue and should he leave the Embassy the MPS will make every effort to arrest him. But it is no longer proportionate to commit officers to a permanent presence,” it added.

Assange was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) in December 2010 and his extradition ordered him to answer serious criminal allegations in Sweden.

The Met has refused to discuss what form the continuing operation will take but indicated “a number of overt and covert tactics” to arrest him.

The decision followed discussions with the UK Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Met statement added, “A significant amount of time has passed since Julian Assange entered the Embassy, and despite the efforts of many people there is no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue.