LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 18, 2014) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. POLICEMAN WALKING PAST ENTRANCE TO ECUADORIAN EMBASSY
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 18, 2014) (UK POOL - ACCESS ALL)
2. WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, SITTING TO THE LEFT OF ECUADORIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, RICARDO PATINO, AT NEWS CONFERENCE
3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, SAYING: (CONTINUES OVER SPANISH TRANSLATION)
"As you can imagine, being detained in various ways in this country without charge for four years, and in this embassy for two years which has no outside area, and therefore no sunlight, as a result of the obstruction that is presently in place by the UK at an admitted cost, policing cost of more than 6.5 million pounds - in fact the latest estimate is 7 million pounds - it is an environment in which any healthy person would find themselves soon enough in difficulties."
4. NEWS CONFERENCE TAKING PLACE
5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, SAYING: (CONTINUES OVER SPANISH TRANSLATION)
"Kristinn Hrafnsson, over here, Wikileak's spokesperson, the most highly decorated journalist, twice now, has said that he can confirm that I am leaving the embassy soon, but perhaps not for the reasons that the Murdoch press and Sky News are saying at the moment."
6. NEWS CONFERENCE TAKING PLACE
7. PATINO LISTENING TO NEWS CONFERENCE
8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, SAYING: (CONTINUES OVER SPANISH TRANSLATION)
"It is often falsely reported that women in Sweden have accused me of the serious crime of rape. That is false. No women has done so, in fact the women in Sweden exclusively deny having done that, and in the submissions to the Supreme Court of this country the agreed statement of facts the Swedish government admits to that fact."
9. ASSANGE LISTENING TO QUESTION
10. NEWS CONFERENCE FINISHING
STORY: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent over two years inside Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, said on Monday (August 18) he planned to leave the building "soon", acknowledging that his time there had had a detrimental effect on his health.
Assange's spokesman, Kristinn Hrafnsson, later said that could only happen if Britain let him.
Britain has repeatedly said it won't back down, that its laws must be followed, and that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault and rape, which he denies.
Assange would be arrested if he exited the building because he has breached his British bail terms.
Speaking at a news conference at the embassy in central London, Assange said that staying in the embassy, which has no outside area and therefore little access to sunlight was taking its toll on him.
"It is an environment in which any healthy person would find themselves soon enough in difficulties," he said, also criticising the costs associated with policing the outside of the embassy, which he claimed was now 7 million pounds.
Assange told reporters he was planning on ending his stay imminently, before refusing to clarify his comments.
"Kristinn Hrafnsson, over here, Wikileak's spokesperson, the most highly decorated journalist, twice now, has said that he can confirm that I am leaving the embassy soon, but perhaps not for the reasons that the Murdoch press and Sky News are saying at the moment."
Britain's Sky News, part owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, had earlier reported that Assange was considering leaving the embassy due to deteriorating health.
He also took the opportunity to criticise general coverage of the allegations against him.
"It is often falsely reported that women in Sweden have accused me of the serious crime of rape," he said.
"That is false. No women has done so, in fact the women in Sweden exclusively deny having done that, and in the submissions to the Supreme Court of this country the agreed statement of facts the Swedish government admits to that fact," he added.
Assange's comments briefly raised the possibility of him leaving the embassy, somewhere he has been holed up since June 2012. But his spokesman later told reporters that he could only do so if the British government "calls off the siege outside". Assange had no intention of handing himself over to the police, the spokesman said.
The 43-year-old Australian says he fears that if Britain extradited him to Sweden he would then be extradited to the United States where he could be tried for one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.
Audio: NATURAL WITH ENGLISH SPEECH AND SPANISH TRANSLATION
Locations: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
Source: REUTERS / UK POOL
Locations: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
Source: REUTERS / UK POOL
