Julian Assange fears he is being bugged at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Lawyers claim the WikiLeaks founder, who has been holed up in the embassy for the past two years to avoid extradition to Sweden, ‘is most likely under auditory surveillance’. Last year a covert listening device was found behind a plug socket in the ambassador’s office, but security experts described it as rudimentary and unlikely to have been the work of police or the security services. Scroll down for video . Listening device: Julian Assange pictured inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London . Mr Assange’s new eavesdropping claim was included in a court submission last week in which his lawyers argue his confinement is a ‘deprivation of liberty’ under European law. Among other reasons, they cite his cramped living conditions which mean he ‘cannot carry out his professional duties in a normal fashion’. The 43-year-old has lived at the embassy since Ecuador gave him asylum in 2012. The Government wants to extradite him to Sweden under a European Arrest Warrant where he faces questioning over allegations of sexual molestation and rape involving two women he met during a visit to the country in 2010. No charges have been brought because he has not been interrogated by police regarding allegations by the second of the two women. Mr Assange says if he is sent to Sweden he will be extradited to the US, where he could face 35 years in prison for publishing on WikiLeaks classified documents related to US activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy, above, in London since 2012, when the UK decided to extradite him to Sweden where he is wanted on charges of sexual assault . Police officers stationed outside the embassy round the clock – in an operation that has so far cost £7 million – are under orders to arrest him if he tries to leave. In the submission to the Swedish Court of Appeal on Friday, his lawyers ask that text messages – which they believe suggest there was no basis for his arrest – be handed to the defence. They were sent by one of his accusers and Assange claims they show that she was ambiguous about his arrest and even opposed to it. His lawyers also argue that to ‘break the deadlock’, he should be questioned at the embassy in Knightsbridge, rather than in Sweden. They note the Swedish authorities have made no effort to arrange this. ‘Residence in the embassy is, in other words, a result of the deprivation of liberty imposed on Assange by Sweden,’ says the claim . His lawyers also point out that his embassy confinement is already nearly as long as the ‘maximum sentence for the suspected crime’. And they suggest that ‘should he be forced to seek hospital care he will lose his political asylum and will be arrested’. However, they do not mention the serious heart and lung conditions he is said to have developed since his incarceration.
Lawyers claim the 43-year-old ‘is most likely under auditory surveillance’
Assange has been in embassy for two years to avoid extradition to Sweden .
Legal team say confinement is a ‘deprivation of liberty’ under European law .
Julian Assange fears he is being bugged at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Lawyers claim the WikiLeaks founder, who has been holed up in the embassy for the past two years to avoid extradition to Sweden, ‘is most likely under auditory surveillance’. Last year a covert listening device was found behind a plug socket in the ambassador’s office, but security experts described it as rudimentary and unlikely to have been the work of police or the security services. Scroll down for video . Listening device: Julian Assange pictured inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London . Mr Assange’s new eavesdropping claim was included in a court submission last week in which his lawyers argue his confinement is a ‘deprivation of liberty’ under European law. Among other reasons, they cite his cramped living conditions which mean he ‘cannot carry out his professional duties in a normal fashion’. The 43-year-old has lived at the embassy since Ecuador gave him asylum in 2012. The Government wants to extradite him to Sweden under a European Arrest Warrant where he faces questioning over allegations of sexual molestation and rape involving two women he met during a visit to the country in 2010. No charges have been brought because he has not been interrogated by police regarding allegations by the second of the two women. Mr Assange says if he is sent to Sweden he will be extradited to the US, where he could face 35 years in prison for publishing on WikiLeaks classified documents related to US activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy, above, in London since 2012, when the UK decided to extradite him to Sweden where he is wanted on charges of sexual assault . Police officers stationed outside the embassy round the clock – in an operation that has so far cost £7 million – are under orders to arrest him if he tries to leave. In the submission to the Swedish Court of Appeal on Friday, his lawyers ask that text messages – which they believe suggest there was no basis for his arrest – be handed to the defence. They were sent by one of his accusers and Assange claims they show that she was ambiguous about his arrest and even opposed to it. His lawyers also argue that to ‘break the deadlock’, he should be questioned at the embassy in Knightsbridge, rather than in Sweden. They note the Swedish authorities have made no effort to arrange this. ‘Residence in the embassy is, in other words, a result of the deprivation of liberty imposed on Assange by Sweden,’ says the claim . His lawyers also point out that his embassy confinement is already nearly as long as the ‘maximum sentence for the suspected crime’. And they suggest that ‘should he be forced to seek hospital care he will lose his political asylum and will be arrested’. However, they do not mention the serious heart and lung conditions he is said to have developed since his incarceration.
Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Lawyers claim the embassy for the past two years to avoid extradition to Sweden, ‘is most likely under his lawyers argue his confinement is a ‘deprivation of liberty’ under European law. Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange has been living in