Ecuador has him now

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange faced a "difficult choice" in defying a British police order, one of his lawyers has said. Mr Assange was confronted with risks no matter which path he took and is gambling that Ecuador will look sympathetically at his request for political asylum, said Michael Ratner, a human rights lawyer who is on Mr Assange's legal defence team. The 40-year-old Australian refused to comply with a British police order to turn himself in for extradition to Sweden and instead walked into the Ecuadoran embassy in London on June 19, asking for asylum. Mr Assange faces questioning in Sweden over sexual assault allegations but he denies the allegations and insists it is part of a politically-motivated effort to get him extradited to the United States, where he fears he could be put on trial for espionage or other crimes. Confronted with the option of being transferred to a Swedish prison without the possibility of seeking political asylum, Mr Assange made an understandable decision. I too would've fled if I was in a similar predicament. Mr Assange's concerns that he could be prosecuted in a US court for serious crimes are well-founded, given details that have emerged about a grand jury investigation, public warnings from top US officials, and reported questioning of WikiLeaks associates. He is a whistle-blowing hero, and he should stay inside Ecuador's embassy on diplomatic territory lest the cops come after him.