Assange claims he was tortured in UK prison
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said that he had been tortured in a British prison prior to getting asylum with Ecuador's embassy in London, the Ecuadorian news agency Andes reported. "I was detained without official charges. I spent five days without charges in a horrible prison in the UK. My health was very poor then, and they applied electricity to my shins," Assange was quoted as saying during the joint press conference with Ecuadorian Foreign Affairs Minister Ricardo Patino on Thursday. Ecuador vowed asylum offer to Assange was for the long term. "We will protect Julian Assange as long as necessary and as long as he wants," Patino said. Britain's Supreme Court ruled in 2012 to extradite WikiLeaks founder to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, although WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said he clearly saw Washington's hand in the ruling.
Reuters: Ecuador says talks with Britain over Julian Assange at an impasse