Ecuador severs Julian Assange's internet connection to prevent US election interference

News emerged this week that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been cut off from the internet. Now Ecuador -- in whose embassy he is holed up in London -- has said that it is responsible.

The move comes after WikiLeaks continued with its threats to release damaging information about Hillary Clinton, which could possibly boost the popularity of Donald Trump. The country is keen not to be seen to be interfering with, or allowing interference with, the US election, saying it "respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states".

Ecuadorian officials have issued a statement saying that Assange's internet access had been cut because "in recent weeks, WikiLeaks has published a wealth of documents, impacting on the US election campaign".

The statement says:

The Government of Ecuador respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states. It does not interfere in external electoral processes, nor does it favour any political candidate.

Accordingly, Ecuador has exercised its sovereign right to temporarily access to some of its private communications network within its Embassy in the United Kingdom. This temporary restriction does not prevent the WikiLeaks organization from carrying out its journalistic activities.

Photo credit: haak78 / Shutterstock