LONDON -- Monitoring the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Julian Assange is staying has been a costly exercise for the British taxpayer.
To date, £10 million ($15 million) has been spent to ensure the WikiLeaks founder doesn't put a foot on British soil.
In a request filed under the Freedom of Information Act, LBC Radio found that it costs £10,500 ($16,000) to guard the embassy around the clock each day.
LIVE: UK costs against #Assange have hit £10,000,000 in embassy siege http://t.co/8b8Pyk3tZS pic.twitter.com/f7u2HzbPN5— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 5, 2015
So far, Assange has spent 959 days in the embassy after Ecuador granted him political asylum in 2012, preventing the WikiLeaks founder from being extradited to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct.
During that time, Assange has been waiting for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. In July, a court in Sweden upheld an arrest warrant against him, leaving Assange in legal limbo with no solution in sight.
In August, Assange said he would leave the embassy "soon," but didn't specify when or what terms might be involved.