Britain says to protest to Ecuador over Assange asylum

Reuters
Updated
A supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange holds a placard with his mouth during a gathering outside the Ecuador embassy in London
A supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange holds a placard with his mouth during a gathering outside the Ecuador embassy in London, Britain June 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday it would make a formal protest to the Ecuadorian government over its decision to provide asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in its London embassy and so prevent his extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.

"Ecuador must recognise that its decision to harbour Mr Assange more than three years ago has prevented the proper course of justice," British Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said in a statement.

The comments come after Swedish prosecutors dropped probes into three allegations as they had run out of time to bring charges. They said they would push on with an investigation into an allegation of rape made in 2010 against Assange.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Kate Holton)

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