Ecuadorian officials reportedly considered disguising WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in fancy dress to smuggle him out of their embassy in London to evade police.
Other alleged escape plans involved Assange becoming lost in the crowds at the nearby Harrods department store or making a dash across rooftops to a helipad.
The proposed plans are detailed in leaked internal Ecuadorian government documents, Buzzfeed News in the UK reports.
The 44-year-old Australian has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden over an investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations.
Another mooted option for getting Assange out of the UK was to appoint him Ecuador's representative to the UN or smuggle him out to the airport in a diplomatic car.
Further options outlined in the leaked report were that Assange "could leave in fancy dress" or be put into a diplomatic bag, considered inviolable by treaty.
But officials reportedly dismissed the latter plan as they knew police outside the embassy had advanced technology to detect body heat.
British police have a constant presence around the embassy and the options considered were never attempted.
As well as the escape plots, the documents detail alleged clashes between Assange and embassy security staff and concerns raised about his mental health.
In September 2012 it's alleged a guard found him in an off-limits secure control room in the embassy, leading to a scuffle and the toppling of a computer screen.
In January 2013, a security guard reported hearing a loud crash from Assange's small room then finding a large bookshelf had fallen over.
Assange reportedly claimed it had fallen of its own accord.
The documents also note instances of Assange shouting and talking incoherently at night and this was attributed to the stress of his situation.
The report recommends regular monitoring of Assange's mental and physical health and states "his evident anger and feelings of superiority could cause stress to those around him especially the personnel who work in the embassy, mainly women," Buzzfeed reports.
The report also notes a need to control access to alcohol.
Swedish officials began talks with Ecuadorian officials in Stockholm this week on setting up legal guidelines so Swedish prosecutors could interview him at the embassy.
Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuador as he seeks to avoid extradition to Sweden on the sex allegations and to the US to face espionage charges over damaging WikiLeaks releases of security information.
© AAP 2024
