‘Assange charges are hilarious’

QUITO — Ecuador’s foreign minister has said that rape and sexual assault cases lodged in Sweden against Julian Assange are laughable, but no ruling has yet been made on the WikiLeaks founder’s asylum application.

“Personally, (I think) this is hilarious,” Ecuadoran chief diplomat Ricardo Patino told reporters, explaining that Assange “is charged because his condom broke.” Assange is currently at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, seeking political asylum in the Latin American country. Ecuadoran officials are examining the allegations of sexual misconduct in their review of Assange’s application. Patino said that one of the alleged victims filed a complaint, because she “realized that on certain nights, the condom broke.” — AFP