Julian Assange Will Never Move Out Ever, Ever, Ever

By Esther Wang | December 7, 2018 | 5:50pm

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Alleged sexual predator and confirmed bad person Julian Assange is apparently also a terrible roommate. The Ecuadorean embassy in London has housed the WikiLeaks founder since 2012 after he showed up claiming asylum as part of an effort to escape extradition to Sweden over pending sexual assault and rape charges which he claimed were actually a ruse to then extradite him to the United States. (All of the sexual assault and rape charges were later dropped; Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape charge as they saw there was “no way forward” with Assange holed up in the embassy.)

But on Thursday, Lenin Moreno, the president of Ecuador who is increasingly frustrated with his long-term houseguest, announced that a deal had been struck between the United Kingdom and Ecuador that would permit Assange to leave the country’s embassy in London without being extradited to a country where he may face the death penalty.

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The relationship between Assange and the Ecuadorean government has been steadily deteriorating. In March, the embassy temporarily cut off his internet access, arguing that his incendiary social media posts were threatening Ecuador’s relationships with other countries. And in October, after the embassy demanded that he do things like pay for his own food, health care, internet, and laundry; tidy his bathroom; and clean up after his cat, he responded by filing a lawsuit in which he alleged that the new house rules were an effort by Ecuador to get him to leave the embassy. A judge ruled against him, finding that the embassy has the right to ask him to be a responsible roommate. According to news reports, embassy officials are also upset that his penchant for playing soccer and for skateboarding indoors has damaged the building, as well as the mounting costs of housing him, which have added up to $6 million—or $1 million per year.

If this video from 2011 is to be believed, this may possibly not be the first time Assange has shown himself to be a bad guest?

Assange has no desire to leave the embassy and, through his attorney, rejected the agreement, arguing again that he fears being extradited to the U.S. (In November, a court filing inadvertently revealed that the Department of Justice has indeed charged Assange, though no specific details were included.)

My advice: Just clean up after your cat, Julian!