Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
On June 16, 2013, Ricardo Patino, the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs, was visiting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London when he discovered a tiny microphone.
But who bugged the embassy? No country is taking credit, though both the United States and Great Britain would have reason to listen in on Assange, especially given his recent connection to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
In a press conference yesterday Patino said:
We regret to inform that we have found a hidden microphone in the London embassy. I did not bring this up before because I didn’t want my visit to London to hold talks on Julian Assange to be confused with accusations over this surveillance device found in the ambassador’s office.
A London police officer stands watch outside of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Assange has been living. (Getty)
The United Kingdom has not confirmed or denied their involvement with the bug, but this discovery does come in the wake of another slight. The English government had just denied a request that would allow Assange safe passage from the embassy in London to Ecuador.
This makes the second Latin American nation that is enraged at Euro-American security measures. Just yesterday, the Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land his plane in Austria under the suspicion that Edward Snowden was on board. The plan was searched and Snowden was not found. Bolivia will be issuing a formal complaint to the United Nations for the incident.
RT @SkyNewsBreak: Ecuador Foreign Minister: hidden microphone found at London embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 3, 2013
