QUITO, May 20 -- Officials of the Ecuadorian Attorney General's Office are carrying out a court proceeding to seize WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's possessions left at the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain.
The proceeding was carried out with the support of the investigative police and belongings that "could serve as evidence of the possible commission of crimes" would be seized, Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility said Monday in a statement.
The judicial officials "will not conduct a specialized investigation in situ with respect to the possessions seized, which will be sent to Ecuador to be analyzed later," the statement said.
"The action taken by the Attorney General's office goes in accordance with the Ecuadorian law and was authorized by a judge with jurisdiction," the statement said.
This was in response to the request for international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters made by the U.S. Department of Justice, in line with the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.
"If the analysis made by the Prosecutor's Office concludes that some of the seized possessions must be given to the petitioners of mutual legal assistance (United States), then we will do so following the required regulations and legal procedures," the ministry said.
The belongings that are not seized by the Prosecutor's Office will be made available to Assange's legal representatives.
On May 14, Ecuadorian Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Valencia promised that his country will act with "total adherence to the law" in the process of delivery to the United States of documents and possessions that Assange left at the Ecuadorian embassy.
Ecuador withdrew the diplomatic asylum granted to Assange on April 11. On May 1, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison in London for violating his bail by taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in June 2017.
Assange took refuge in the embassy to evade a European arrest warrant issued by Sweden over accusations of alleged sex crimes.
Washington demanded his extradition over charges of conspiracy after the release of classified military and diplomatic documents by WikiLeaks in 2010. The accusations could lead to a prison term of up to five years.