The round-the-clock police guard waiting to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, should he step off the grounds of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, has been downsized, officials announced this week.
"The Metropolitan Police Service has today . . . withdrawn the physical presence of officers from outside the Embassy," police said in a statement,
according to The Australian. "Whilst no tactics guarantee success in the event of Julian Assange leaving the embassy, the MPS will deploy a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him."
The MPS said the permanent police presence has cost British taxpayers more than £10 million ($20.8 million USD).
"Like all public services, MPS resources are finite. With so many different criminal, and other, threats to the city it protects, the current deployment of officers is no longer believed proportionate," police said. "A significant amount of time has passed since Julian Assange entered the embassy, and despite the efforts of many people there is no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue."
Assange, 44, took refuge inside the embassy in 2012.
Prosecutors in Sweden want to question Assange about a rape allegation, which the Australian denies. Assange could also eventually face extradition to the U.S. for his role in leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military documents in 2010.
The statute of limitations for the rape allegation expires in 2020.
Swedish and Ecuadorian diplomats are in communication, and could reach a deal in which Assange would be questioned.
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