Eucador police detains accomplice of Julian Assange

Hours after the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Ecuador's police here on Thursday detained his accomplice.

"A person who is close to him lives here, we have convincing evidence that he maintained contacts with former Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino. He was detained this afternoon," TASS news quoted Ecuadorian Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo as saying.

The person has been identified as Ola Bini, a Swedish national. Reportedly, he works as a software developer with Wikileaks.

Assange was arrested earlier in the day on Thursday, in London in connection with the INA paper leaks.

Following his arrest, former French MP Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Melenchon said that his country must grant political asylum to Assange at a time when 'his freedom is threatened'.

Assange has been arrested for failing to surrender to the court over a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates' Court in 2012, the New York Times reported, while quoting the London Police.

The INA papers are the cache of documents published in February 2019, allegedly uncovering the operations of INA Investment Corp., an offshore tax haven created by the brother of Ecuadorian President.

Wikileaks had announced that Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno is being investigated for corruption charges after the leaks of the papers.

Assange had repeatedly suggested that he might be apprehended outside the embassy and extradited to the United States.

Over the past months, the Ecuadorian authorities were reportedly putting various restrictions on the conditions of Assange's stay in the embassy, which the whistleblower's defence termed as violation of human rights.