On Thursday morning, the government of Ecuador announced its decision to grant asylum to WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who had been hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 19, 2012. The decision to grant asylum means that Assange will only have protection from arrest while on Ecuadorian territory, making his travel to Ecuador dependent on British cooperation. As communicated from a government communique, Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino said: "The government of Ecuador, faithful to its tradition of protecting those who seek refuge in its territory or in its diplomatic mission, has decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Julian Assange."
The announcement was met by disappointment in the British Foreign Office, while the Swedish government called the decision "unacceptable." Britain has refuses to acknowledge his asylum and maintains that they have an obligation to extradite Assange to Sweden, where an arrest warrant has been out in his name since 2010, after being accused of sexual assault. Assange shot to fame after founding WIkiLeaks, a media website dedicated to publishing sensitive information from whistleblowers.