WikiLeaks Founder Remains Cut Off from Internet Access at Ecuador Embassy

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains cut off from the web after his Ecuadorian Embassy hosts severed his communications with the outside world, the Ecuadorian foreign minister said.

"He remains disconnected from the Internet and other communications," Maria Fernanda Espinosa said. "A dialogue is continuing, and there is a will and interest to make progress."

Ecuador suspended his Internet access in March after accusing the whistleblower of interfering with other countries’ internal affairs via his social media posts.

In March, a group of activists and cultural figures posted an open letter calling on Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno to ensure freedom of speech of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who had been deprived of communications.

The document has been signed by such people as actress Pamela Anderson, linguist Noam Chomsky, musicians Brian Eno and Jean Michel Jarre, film director Oliver Stone, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, designer Vivienne Westwood and philosopher Slavoj Zizek among others.

In May 2017, Swedish prosecutors confirmed that rape charges against Assange had been dropped following a seven-year investigation, but the UK police said it would still have to arrest the WikiLeaks founder if he stepped out of the embassy.

Assange took refuge at Ecuador’s Embassy in London in 2012 after he was accused of sexual offences. He fears extradition to the United States where he is wanted for leaking damning Iraq War logs.