(FILES) This file photo taken on February 05, 2016 shows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange coming out on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy to address the media in central London on February 5, 2016. Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been sheltering at Ecuador's London embassy for five years, on January 262, 2018 asked a court to remove the arrest warrant hanging over him. Assange moved into the embassy in 2012 to dodge a European Arrest Warrant issued over a Swedish probe into rape allegations, but Sweden dropped their investigation last year. However, British police say they will still arrest Assange if he steps foot outside the embassy for failing to surrender to a court after violating bail terms. / AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL