The UN announced on 5 April that the UN Special Rapporteur had the agreement of Ecuador to visit Mr Assange in the embassy on 25 April to “help determine if there exists a prima facie case of violation of privacy that warrants further investigation.” The announcement made clear that the UN Special Rapporteur had received “assurances from the Government of Ecuador that it will facilitate his visit to the country’s embassy in London.”

On 10 April, WikiLeaks announced it had proof of the extent of surveillance and interference with the right to privacy inside the embassy, which included the recording of visits by his lawyers, including the copying of their notes, as well as recording visits of his doctors. This was reported widely around the world (see, for example, here, here, here and here).

The next day, on 11 April, Mr Assange was forcefully removed from the embassy by British police