WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has 'taken refuge' in the Ecuador embassy, Tuesday evening in London.  Assange is seeking political asylum in the country according to Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks at a news conference in London, February 27, 2012 (Photo: Finbarr O'Reilly)

 "I can confirm I arrived at the Ecuadorean embassy and sought diplomatic sanctuary and political asylum," Assange said in a statement.

"This application has been passed to the ministry of foreign affairs in the capital Quito. I am grateful to the Ecuadorean ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application."

Officials in Ecuador are considering the request.

"Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request," stated Patino.

Wikileaks is now tweeting that in 2010 Ecuador had offered Assange residency in the country, according to BBC news.

Last week, Britain's high court refused a legal request to reconsider Assange's extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes. Assange has maintained that the charges and subsequent extradition are politically motivated and aimed at silencing his governmental transparency work.

The international group Friends of Wikileaks sent an open letter to the Human Rights Court this week, asking for it to stop the “unlawful detention” of Assange.

The letter stated that Assange has been under house arrest in the UK without charge for nearly two years.

Source: Common Dreams