Assange's Embassy Escape Plans Revealed

Ecuadoreans suggested fancy dress
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2015 2:26 AM CDT
Assange's Embassy Escape Plans Revealed
In this Aug. 18, 2014, photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, right, speaks during a news conference with Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.   (John Stillwell/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Julian Assange is now in his fourth year of living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, and leaked documents reveal that the WikiLeaks founder hasn't been the easiest guest—and that diplomats were working on creative ways to get rid of him. The documents show that as embassy staff started to worry about his behavior, they hatched escape plans, including having Assange sneak past waiting police officers in fancy dress, having him flee over rooftops to a helipad, obtaining diplomatic immunity by appointing him as Ecuador's representative to the UN, or smuggling him out in a diplomatic bag, the Telegraph reports. The latter plan was rejected because police had technology that could detect body heat.

The leaked documents seen by BuzzFeed also describe some odd incidents involving the man diplomats referred to as "Mr. Guest." In a September 2012 incident, Assange was found tampering with equipment in a secure control room where he wasn't supposed to be and scuffled with a guard, according to the documents. The documents note that Assange was under a lot of stress, and that his "evident anger" and "feelings of superiority" could stress out others—"especially the personnel who work in the embassy, mainly women." They suggest obtaining psychological help for Assange and controlling his access to alcohol. (Swedish prosecutors are still investigating rape allegations involving Assange, but other charges have been dropped because they've expired.)

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