Ecuador President Calls Julian Assange An 'Inherited Problem', 'More Than A Nuisance'

President of Ecuador Lenín Moreno has described Julian Assange as an "inherited problem" that has created 'more than a nuisance' for his government - after granting the Wikileaks founder Ecuadorian citizenship less than a month ago.

In a TV interview, Lenín said his government is trying to kick the 46-year-old out of the country’s embassy in London where Assange has been living since June 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden for alleged sex crimes. Gizmodo reports:

"Moreno "inherited" Assange because the previous president, Rafael Correa, was the one to originally grant asylum to the Australian. [But] Ecuadorian officials have become increasingly concerned with his interference and controversies around the globe since he started hiding in their cupboard. Ecuador has gone so far as to cut off Assange’s Internet access temporarily."

Moreno is seeking help from "important people" to solve the "problem" and find ways for Assange to leave the embassy without the threat of arrest by Britain and possible extradition to the US:

"I am disappointed by the British government's response. This would have been a good result, unfortunately, things did not turn out as the foreign ministry planned and so the problem still exists."

Although Sweden has dropped the assault charges, British authorities have promised to arrest him if he moves out of the embassy. Since the UK has refused to recognize him as a diplomatic agent, Assange fears extradition to the US over the 2010 publication of classified information by Wikileaks.

Therefore, Assange and his advisers are preparing to try to use Ecuador’s decision to grant him diplomatic status to force Britain to declare him persona non grata and expel him, reports The Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, Assange’s lawyer claim that if he is to be removed from the embassy, the US would need to file criminal charges against him and seek his extradition, which could land him some serious jail time. So, his legal team plans to file a legal case with the International Court of Justice seeking to have his Ecuadorean diplomatic status affirmed under international law.

Is Assange really a problem? AFP noted:

"The WikiLeaks founder has strained the patience of his hosts since taking up the offer of asylum made by then-president Rafael Correa in 2012. He was publicly reprimanded for interfering in the 2016 US election after publishing hacked emails from the campaign team of Democrat Hillary Clinton. More recently, he drew the ire of Correa's successor, President Moreno, when he used Twitter to pump out messages of support for Catalonia's independence drive."