Guardian issues halfhearted correction of article about 'plot' to transfer Assange to Russia - 1 year later

The Guardian
Sun, 22 Dec 2019 18:29 UTC

© AP Photo / Matt Dunham

Last year, the Guardian reported on a plan to transfer Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London to Ecuador's embassy in Moscow by making Assange a member of the Ecuadorian embassy staff, first in London and then in Russia. Giving Assange diplomatic status would have allowed him to leave the Ecuadorian embassy, where he was a fugitive from UK justice. Assange, Ecuador and Russia were all parties to the plan, which was abandoned after the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office refused to recognise Assange as a member of the embassy staff. Our report should have avoided the words "smuggle" and "plot" since they implied that diplomatic immunity in itself was illicit. The Guardian's Review Panel has issued a ruling on this article, available online at gu.com/narvaez-decision (Revealed: Russia's Christmas Eve plot to smuggle Assange out of UK, 22 September 2018, page 3).

Comment: It's been over a year since they published the article. And it's still there, minus the few cosmetic changes. RT adds:

The correction was made after a complaint from Fidel Narvaez, who served as Ecuador's London consul at the time of the alleged "plot." The paper described Narvaez as a middleman between Assange and the Kremlin. Narvaez outright denied any discussions with Moscow.

Though The Guardian corrected its choice of words, the bulk of its story remains as is. The identity of the anonymous sources cited remain a mystery, as does the level of awareness the Russian government had about the plan at any stage in its formation.

As events transpired, Assange was bundled out of the embassy by Metropolitan Police in April, after Ecuador revoked his asylum. He has remained in prison since, with medics and UN observers sounding the alarm over his deteriorating physical and mental health, and comparing the conditions of his confinement to "torture."