Assange needs to get some sunlight and fresh air, say Ecuadoreans

Julian Assange™ is sick. That's the medical verdict according to the Ecuadorean embassy in London where the WikiLeaks founder is currently holed up.

He is seeking a safe passage to the South American country and the latest tactic appears to be to complain about his health. A lack of sunshine and living "in a confined space" has given Assange a chronic lung infection, apparently.

Ecuador's ambassador in Britain Ana Alban warned that the Australia-born computer hacker's health "could get worse at any moment".

Assange has been living in the country's embassy in Knightsbridge, London, since June when his bizarre plea for shelter from being extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual coercion, sexual molestation and rape began. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

But his decision to plonk himself in the embassy also meant that he had broken one of the conditions of his UK bail terms - a 10pm to 8am curfew which had been in force since his arrest in December 2010.

Since then, celebrities including Lady Gaga, MIA and Vivienne Westwood have thrown their support behind the WikiLeaker-in-chief either by taking tea with him or designing t-shirts for his cause.

More significantly, Ecuador's government has attempted to bargain with the UK's Foreign Secretary William Hague in a bid to get political asylum and a safe passage out of the country granted for Assange.

Discussions are continuing, said Alban, but in the meantime Assange's health is deteriorating.

"Not only does the embassy have few windows but the city is also dark at this time - we have very little daylight in London," she said before adding that the 41-year-old - whose website leaked thousands of US diplomatic cables and military files - needed sunlight and fresh air.

El Reg has previously suggested that Assange suns himself under a SAD lamp. But perhaps he also needs a strong dose of Vitamin D3 and a big aroma diffuser to cleanse that stuffy air. ®