Julian Assange is concerned not about any proceedings in Sweden as such, but believe that his deportation to Sweden could lead to politically motivated deportation to the United States, where he could face severe penalties, up to the death sentence, for his activities related to WikiLeaks. On 16 August 2012, Foreign Minister Patiño announced that Ecuador was granting Assange political asylum because of the threat represented by the United States secret investigation against him and several calls for assassination from many American politicians. In its formal statement, Ecuador reasoned that "as a consequence of [Assange's] determined defense to freedom of expression and
UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 the Extradition Act 2003 within the UK and an opposition proposal to amend the Act in the House of Lords. It also coincided with public disquiet at the case of the NatWest Three who were extradited on the same date. This meant the NatWest three were extradited to the US under the US-UK Extradition Treaty 2003, even though that treaty had not been ratified in the US. On 30 September 2006 the US Senate unanimously ratified the treaty. British Home Secretary John Reid said he was ""delighted"" that Baroness Scotland's visit to the US over the summer succeeded in getting