Holed up the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has been granted asylum, Julian Assange is as defiant as ever.

Sweden wants to question him about accusations that he sexually assaulted two women. Assange denies the charges and argues they are a pretext for further extradition to the U.S., where he would be persecuted.

But after appeals against extradition to Sweden failed, he broke bail to seek asylum.

It is ironic, given the nature of his work, that he is avoiding extradition to a country ranked second on Freedom House’s press freedom index in the embassy of a nation ranked 106th. His WikiLeaks website was initially hailed as a breakthrough for transparency, offering whistleblowers a powerful way to expose wrongdoing. 

But WikiLeaks began to devote itself to unveiling secret U.S. diplomatic and military communications. The war logs and Cablegate files offered a window into the secret workings of the U.S., but some worried that they did more harm than good. The United States said its diplomatic efforts had been compromised.

WikiLeaks came under attack, facing financial sanctions and attempts to take it offline. Assange’s profile rose, but WikiLeaks’ support was dwindling. Some members jumped ship to set up a rival site, saying Assange had abandoned the site’s original purpose.

Arguments with partner newspapers, over who controlled the free and unfettered flow of information WikiLeaks was supposed to promote, further isolated Assange.

The U.K. is unlikely to capture him by force, due to the unsettling message it would send on asylum in general. It is more likely to seek ways to persuade him to face questioning voluntarily.

Time is on its side. Assange, effectively under self-imposed house arrest, has nowhere to go. It may be that all there is left to do is wait.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)