Ecuador weighs Assange death-sentence risk ECUADOR is considering the risk that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could face the death penalty in the United States as it decides whether to grant him asylum, the foreign minister says. "We are now studying Assange's charge that he risks being tried for political reasons and could be sentenced to death," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on his Twitter account today. "Ecuador declares that it will protect the human right to life and to freedom of expression," Mr Patino said, adding that Mr Assange's request for political asylum "requires profound analysis." Mr Assange, 40, is at Ecuador's embassy in London requesting asylum after Britain's top court declined an appeal to avoid extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes. Mr Assange has maintained that the allegations are politically motivated and that Sweden will deport him to the United States to be put on trial for WikiLeaks' disclosure of classified documents.