Ecuador: We have 'temporarily restricted' Assange's internet

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press

Oct 18, 2016 5:43 PM CDT

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Ecuador: We have 'temporarily restricted' Assange's internet — FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin. WikiLeaks said on Monday, Oct. 17, 2016, that Assange's internet access has been cut by an unidentified state... (Associated Press)

LONDON (AP) — Ecuador's government has acknowledged that it has "temporarily restricted" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's internet access at its embassy in London after the whistleblowing site published documents from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign

The foreign ministry in a statement Tuesday said that while it stands by its decision in 2012 to grant Assange asylum, it doesn't interfere in foreign elections. Leftist President Rafael Correa's government said it was acting on its own and not ceding to foreign pressures.

The foreign ministry didn't specify the extent of the restrictions on Assange's access to the internet, saying only that the restrictions on his communications wouldn't affect WikiLeaks' ability to carry out its journalistic activities.

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Satter reported out of London.