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Assange's Ecuador asylum bid has violated £200k UK bail, say cops

Celeb chums rinsed of cash by diplomatic sofa stay

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – who is currently holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London - has breached his UK bail conditions, Scotland Yard confirmed this morning.

As we reported yesterday, the 40-year-old Australian is seeking political asylum in Ecuador, after his attempts to appeal against extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape, coercion and sexual molestation failed in the Supreme Court last week.

Assange was cuffed by Met police on a European Arrest Warrant in December 2010. He was later granted conditional bail by London's High Court with a bond of £200,000, collected from Assange's celebrity supporters.

One of those conditions was that Assange had to adhere to an overnight curfew at his bail address between 22.00 and 08.00.

Scotland Yard said in a statement to The Register that Assange had breached one of the conditions after seeking political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy – which is a flat in Knightsbridge, London – on Tuesday night.

"He is now subject to arrest under the Bail Act for breach of these conditions," the Met said. "Officers are aware of his location at The Ecuador Embassy in Hans Crescent, London."

The UK's Foreign Office confirmed this morning that the government of Ecuador was currently mulling over Assange's request. ®

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