Julian Assange: Life in Ecuadorian Embassy 'May Never End'

Julian Assange – the Australian journalist, editor-in-chief and co-founder of WikiLeaks whistle-blower website – has now spent two years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

He went to live in the embassy after the UK Supreme Court had ordered his extradition to Sweden, where he awaits investigations of sexual assault allegations.

Although Ecuador has granted him asylum, 42-year-old Assange refuses to step outside the embassy, fearing he will be deported to the US.

He has been under investigation in the US since his website published controversial documents, leaked by Army soldier Chelsea Manning in 2012.

Despite his unconventional living conditions, Assange still holds meetings, delivers speeches at conferences and engages with the public through social media.

In May, Assange threatened to publish controversial information, leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, which could put some lives in danger.

Assange also met with João Paulo Rodrigues, a leader of Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST) – which fights for land reforms which grant access to the land to poor people - to discuss possible collaborations between MST and WikiLeaks. After the meeting, Wikileaks tweeted: "Brazil's MST offers asylum to Julian #Assange in autonomous region."

Shortly after, Assange delivered a speech (by video) at the Personal Democracy Forum, a New York-based annual conference, saying that future government will control "every aspect of human life".

He also spoke via WeChat Livestream about Bitcoin during a technology conference in South Africa, calling the currency "the most intellectually interesting development in the last two years".

Last March, he spoke via Skype at the SXSW 2014 conference in Austin, Texas to warn them that something had to be done to stop the NSA and international governments from their "military occupation of our civilian space".

A long reclusion

After a two-year, self-imposed reclusion, Assange seems unwilling to leave the embassy and face the allegations he is accused of. Some argue that he will never leave.

Ecuadorian ambassador Juan Falconi Puig said that Assange is suffering due to the reduced space he is constrained to live in. He also added that Assange is not a fugitive and he may actually "stay there [at the Embassy] forever".