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He is not in the UK. He is currently residing in a quasi-sovereign area of the country of Ecuador, which happens to be in London.


"Contrary to popular belief, diplomatic missions do not enjoy full extraterritorial status and are not sovereign territory of the represented state" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_mission#Extraterrito...


Yes, there is some subtlety here.

But the point stands, which is all the discussion of "why he picked the UK" as a place to avoid extradition seems to be missing the point. If he were comfortable with the government of the UK he'd be relaxing in a pub or reading in the park rather than holed up inside an embassy somewhat out of the reach of UK law for two years.


This page [0] says otherwise (about embassies in general, not specifically the Ecuadorean embassy in London):

> U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, as well as foreign embassies and consulates in the United States, have a special status. While diplomatic spaces remain the territory of the host state, an embassy or consulate represents a sovereign state.

[0] http://diplomacy.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/diplomacy101/pl...




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