Ecuador Cuts Internet of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’ Founder

Ecuador cut off Julian Assange’s access to the internet in his exile in the country’s London embassy, making clear that it feared being sucked into an effort to “interfere in electoral processes” in the United States by the activities of the WikiLeaks founder.

Ecuador is not evicting Assange from its embassy, where he sought asylum four years ago. It said that its “temporary restriction” of internet services to Assange “does not prevent the WikiLeaks organization from carrying out its journalistic activities.” But it was clearly intended to keep the embassy from being the control center for that leaking operation. “The government of Ecuador respects the principle of nonintervention in the affairs of other countries,” it said in a statement, “and it does not interfere in the electoral processes in support of any candidate in particular.”