Ecuador to give US Assange's possessions: lawyers

Ecuador will hand over to the United States documents and computer hardware which Wikileaks founder and whistleblower Julian Assange left behind at its London embassy, his lawyers said Monday.

Ecuadoran public prosecutors have authorised police next Monday to search the room which the Australian occupied for seven years and seize his personal belongings, they said.

They cited an e-mail from the public prosecutors dated May 8 but AFP was not able to confirm its authenticity.

The belongings, including computers, mobile phones, memory sticks and other electronic devices, will then be sent to the United States as part of Ecuador's response to a request from the US Department of Justice for cooperation into its investigation into Assange, according to the e-mail.

This is an "absolute violation of the right of defence, because they will hand over to the United States all his communications with his lawyers, which are confidential," Assange's lawyer in Madrid, Aitor Martinez, told ...