German MP Sevim Dagdelen
© AP Photo/Kirsty WigglesworthGerman MP Sevim Dagdelen, left, speaks to the media alongside John Shipton, biological father of Julian Assange, and German MP Heike Hansel, right, outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Sevim Dagdelen and Heike Hansel, Members of the German Bundestag and of its Committee on Foreign Affairs, met Wikileaks founder Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday, in light of reports of an imminent end to his asylum in the embassy. The parliamentarians wished to discuss the heightened situation with Assange and come to a humanitarian solution.
German lawmakers followed a rare meeting Thursday with Julian Assange by accusing the Trump administration of violating U.S. and international laws in pursuit of the wanted WikiLeaks publisher.

Sevim Dağdelen and Heike Hänsel, German parliamentarians and members of the nation's Left Party, denounced the international custody battle over Mr. Assange while addressing reporters after visiting the Australian-born publisher at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, his residence since 2012.

"United Kingdom has to take the measures, now, to bring to a solution which is in the frame of international law, and not in the frame of the U.S. administration, who is against international law and against, actually, the U.S. law, against the First Amendment," said Ms. Dağdelen, the Left Party's deputy leader. "We have to actually protect them from themselves not to violate the First Amendment."

"At the end of this case could be the extradition to the United States, therefore we call upon our own government - all European governments, member states of the European Union - that they should prevent any, any case of extradition to the United States, and we ask for the rejection of the attempt of the U.S. administration, that they now try to get U.S. laws settled here in the European Union," added Ms. Hänsel, a vice chair of the same democratic socialist group.

Ecuador granted asylum to Mr. Assange, 47, after he sought political refuge over six years ago, effectively shielding him from legal scrutiny related to his WikiLeaks website and its release of sensitive documents dating back to 2010, including classified U.S. Department of State cables, stolen Democratic National Committee emails and internal CIA hacking tools, among other material.

The country's current president has recently discussed ejecting Mr. Assange from the embassy, however, at which point he would risk the possibility of being arrested by British authorities and subsequently sent to the U.S. to face charges.