Julian Assange gets kitten for company in exile
The female kitten, a descendant of the original European wildcat, sleeps in a top hat during the day and prowls the embassy at night.
London: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Monday tweeted a picture of his new companion, a 10-week-old kitten, presented to him by his children to keep him company in his Ecuadorean embassy where he has been holed up since 2012.
The 44-year-old intends to keep the world updated on his yet-unnamed companion via Twitter using the handle @EmbassyCat.
"New home! I've arrived!" his tweet read, along with a picture of him cuddling the kitten.
New home! I've arrived! pic.twitter.com/N7PeuSti4I
— Embassy Cat (@EmbassyCat) May 9, 2016
The female kitten, a descendant of the original European wildcat, sleeps in a top hat during the day and prowls the embassy at night.
Assange, who is under diplomatic asylum at the embassy, is wanted for questioning in Sweden over a sex allegation, which he denies. He believes if he leaves the embassy he will be extradited to the US to be questioned over the activities of WikiLeaks.
A European arrest warrant remains in place, and he has now been living in the Ecuadorian embassy since June 2012, with the fourth anniversary of his refuge nearing next month.
In February, a United Nations' working group found that Sweden and the UK were violating his rights and should release him and award compensation for detaining him without charge.
Assange's lawyers have made an application to the courts in Sweden to enforce the UN group's finding and are filing arguments again today. They have asked for an oral hearing, which if accepted could happen by the end of May.
The UK government had announced that it would formally contest the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention.
'Small curs are not regarded when they grin; But great men tremble when the lion roars' @DiploMog pic.twitter.com/MxLgvZllE1
— Embassy Cat (@EmbassyCat) May 9, 2016
A statement said: "Julian Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK. The opinion of the UN Working Group ignores the facts and the well-recognised protections of the British legal system. He is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy.
"An allegation of rape is still outstanding and a European Arrest Warrant in place, so the UK continues to have a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden. As the UK is not a party to the Caracas Convention, we do not recognise 'diplomatic asylum'.
"We are deeply frustrated that this unacceptable situation is still being allowed to continue. Ecuador must engage with Sweden in good faith to bring it to an end.
Americas Minister Hugo Swire made this clear to the Ecuadorean Ambassador in November, and we continue to raise the matter in Quito."