According to a new letter from the Metropolitan Police, London is spending an average of £10,982 ($16,384) per day to stake out the Ecuadorian Embassy where Julian Assange has been holed up for the last 386 days. Earlier this year, Ars attempted to interview Assange at this embassy, but the WikiLeaks founder did not respond to our queries.
The letter was sent by the Met to London assembly member Jenny Jones on July 1, 2013 and received a week later on July 8, 2013. The document states that of the total £3.8 million ($5.6 million) spent between June 2012 and the end of May 2013, £0.7 million of that represented “increased overtime payments.”
The Met seems to dismiss Jones' concerns that London itself will have to pay such a huge amount to stake out one man.
“Although the Metropolitan Police has not yet formally sought reimbursement from the Home Office regarding these costs, we are now in early discussions with Home Office officials regarding this,” writes Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commissioner of the Met, in the letter. “This is primarily a diplomatic matter and as a result the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are leading the government efforts to resolve this. The MPs are closely involved in discussions over this and we will continue to regularly review our approach.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson also spoke out at a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, lambasting this high cost.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that money should be spent on frontline policing,” he said. “It’s completely wasted.”
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