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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Re: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Admin Fri 12 Apr 2019, 1:20 pm
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6915109/Diane-Abbott-faces-furious-backlash-dismissing-sex-assault-claims-against-Julian-Assange.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
Diane Abbott faces fury for defending Julian Assange by saying his arrest was for 'embarrassing the US military' and 'we all know it's not about the rape charges' as he faces extradition
Labour's Diane Abbott sparked anger this morning by defending Julian Assange
She was accused of 'dismissing' rape claims made against the Wikileaks founder
Abbott told Radio 4's Today programme arrest was 'not about the rape charges'
Instead shadow home secretary said it was about 'embarrassing the US military'
Her remarks led to an angry backlash, including from MPs within her own party
By SEBASTIAN MURPHY-BATES FOR MAILONLINE and DAVID WILCOCK, WHITEHALL CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE and ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:51, 12 April 2019 | UPDATED: 11:54, 12 April 2019
Diane Abbott (pictured) has sparked fury online after comments this morning saw her accused of 'dismissing' sexual assault charges levelled at Assange
Diane Abbott sparked fury this morning after defending Wikileaks founder Julian Assange by appearing to play down rape claims levelled against him.
The Labour MP claimed Assange was being targeted for leaking 'embarrassing information' about the US military and security services, before insisting his arrest was 'not about the rape charges'.
When challenged over the sexual assault allegations made against Mr Assange, Ms Abbott said that the 'charges were never brought'.
But her defence of the 47-year-old former computer hacker was branded 'outrageous' and 'disgraceful', with members of her own party among the MPs outraged by her response.
Assange sought asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on a rape claim.
The investigation into the alleged rape, which he denied, was later dropped because he had evaded the arrest warrant. But yesterday Swedish prosecutors said they will look at resuming it after his accuser asked for the case to be reopened.
It came hours after Assange was arrested and dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy when his asylum was dramatically withdrawn by the country.
He was later found guilty of skipping bail in the UK and also faces extradition to the US after the American government charged him with hacking 750,000 classified documents.
Diane Abbott (pictured, right) has sparked fury online after comments this morning saw her accused of 'dismissing' sexual assault charges levelled at Assange (left)
Abbott was slammed online following her remarks
The shadow home secretary was criticised following her comments
Julian Assange's rape accuser
The alleged sexual assault victim of Julian Assange
The lawyer acting for the woman accusing the WikiLeaks founder of rape (left) has been pushing to reopen the case with Swedish prosecutors. The allegations by the woman who said she was sexually assaulted (right) by Assange were dropped in 2017
Pictured: Assange after he was arrested following a seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian embassy yesterday
Video playing bottom right...
Click here to expand to full page
Abbott told John Humphrys on Radio 4 today that there may be human rights grounds on which to oppose Assange's extradition.
The BBC presenter fired back that Assange had skipped bail and only sought diplomatic immunity in the building when he faced sexual assault allegations in Sweden and refused to go to the country.
She responded 'those charges were never brought' before Humphrys pointed out that Swedish law prevents suspects from being charge in their absence.
Abbott then repeated her assertion and said the pursuit of Assange had nothing to do with alleged rape.
'The allegations were made but the charges were never brought,' she said. 'We all know what this is about. It's not the rape charges - as they are - it's about the Wikileaks and all of that embarrassing information about the activities of the American military and security services that was made public.'
After saying for a third time that 'charges were never brought', Abbott said Assange should face justice if the Swedish government comes forward with charges.
'Much of the information he brought into public domain, it could be argued, were very much in the public interest,' the Labour politician added.
Abbott's remarks sparked outrage on social media as people took to Twitter to point out that Assange had 'escaped' charges by seeking immunity in the embassy.
It's not the first time the gaffe-prone MP has come under fire for comments made in an interview, with previous controversies including her assertion that dictator Chairman Mao did more good than harm.
Labour's Jess Philips and Bridgett Philipson joined Tory Anna Soubry to condemn Abbott's comments online. It comes after yesterday their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, called for Britain to 'oppose' any attempt at extraditing Assange to the states.
Tory MP James Cleverly was among the people to criticise Abbott
Conservative MP Anna Soubry said Abbott's behaviour was 'disgraceful'
People reacted with outrage today at Diane Abbott's remarks
Abbott sparked fury this morning with her comments about the WikiLeaks co-founder
People took to Twitter to voice their fury about the comments
The shadow home secretary's appearance on Radio 4 sparked anger from Labour MP Jess Philips
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, pictured, told the House of Commons today Julian Assange was only being pursued by the US for 'exposing wrongdoing'
Supporters of Assange's activism point to him releasing footage of American troops firing on civilians, but his opponents highlight instances of revealing the identities of Afghan informants working with the US to topple Islamists.
It came after she joined left-wing campaigners in condemning Assange's arrest yesterday.
The WikiLeaks founder, 47, is facing 12 months in a British prison after being hauled out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London after a seven-year stay and brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court, where he was found guilty of skipping bail.
What are some of Diane Abbott's other gaffes and controversies?
2008: Abbott told Andrew Neil on BBC show This Week: 'I suppose that some people would judge that on balance Mao did more good than harm. We can’t say that about the Nazis.'
2010: Accused of playing the 'race card' after she defended sending her son James to a £10,000-a-year school claiming: 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.'
2012: Outrages cab drivers by tweeting: 'Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?'
2017: Told LBC Radio it would cost just £300,000 to hire 10,000 more police officers over four years - a grand total of £30 for each.
2017: Wrongly claims 16-year-olds can fight for their country and should therefore be able to vote.
2017: Refuses four times on the Andrew Marr Show to say she regrets past support of the IRA, adding: 'It was 34 years ago, I had a rather splendid afro at the time. I don't have the same hairstyle and I don't have the same views .'
2018: Angered London Police by criticising their tactic of knocking moped muggers off their vehicles, tweeting: 'Knocking people off bikes is potentially very dangerous. It shouldn't be legal for anyone. Police are not above the law.'
2018: Posts fake image of an Israeli fighter plane bombing Iran in a tweet slamming Britain's airstrikes on Syria.
In a sensational turn of events, he was also charged by the US government with conspiring with American whistleblower Chelsea Manning 'to break a password to a classified government computer' in 2010, for which he could be jailed for five years.
Ms Abbott joined the likes of Pamela Anderson, Edward Snowden, Vivienne Westwood and Peter Tatchell in voicing their concern for Assange.
Ms Abbott told the Commons: 'Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security.
'He is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces.'
US whistleblower Snowden warned the arrest was a 'dark moment for press freedom,' while fashion designer Westwood protested outside Westminster Magistrates Court.
Snowden, a former CIA agent tweeted: 'Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of-like it or not-award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books.'
Snowden is currently living in exile Russia having fled the US after leaking a huge cache of declassified documents back in 2013.
Assange's close friend Pamela Anderson also blasted the arrest on Twitter, calling the UK 'America's b****' and claiming it was a 'diversion from Brexit'.
And the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed the move was 'the hand of democracy squeezing the throat of freedom'.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Abbott said: 'On this side of the House, we're glad that Julian Assange will be able to access medical care, treatment and facilities because there have been worrying reports about his ill health.'
She added: 'Even though the only charge he may face in this country is in relation to his bail hearings, the reason we are debating this this afternoon is entirely to do with the whistleblowing activities of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.
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'It is this whistleblowing activity into illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale that has put Julian Assange in the crosshairs of the US administration.
'It is for this reason that they have once more issued an extradition warrant against Mr Assange.'
She also compared his case to that of Gary McKinnon, who hacked into US military computers from the bedroom of his North London flat.
Labour spokesman Seumas Milne was spotted canoodling with Julian Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson at Courthouse Hotel in Shoreditch in June 2017 (pictured) +9
Labour spokesman Seumas Milne was spotted canoodling with Julian Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson at Courthouse Hotel in Shoreditch in June 2017 (pictured)
It came as Mr Corbyn dodged the opportunity to praise the arrest when it was brought up in Parliament by Prime Minister Theresa May earlier today.
Ms Abbott claimed a 'UN panel' ruled Assange was being 'arbitrarily detained and should be allowed to walk free' from the Ecuadorian embassy.
In response, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said 'the whole country will be pretty astounded by the tone she has taken', saying Ms Abbott was 'suggesting that we should not apply the rule of law to an individual'.
He accused her of 'not giving quite correct information' over her claims the UN had ruled in Assange's favour, saying 'the UN has no view on the Assange case'.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the US was leading an attack on the press and freedom of speech by arresting Assange, and the slammed the British government for cooperating.
Speaking on Sky News, he said: 'What Julian Assange did was publish information that had been leaked by Chelsea Manning.
'He was not the leaker. He published the information in the same way the Guardian did and the New York Times did.
'But the Trump administration is not going after the Guardian or the New York Times, they are after Julian Assange.
'What he published was the truth and the American government and military should be accountable.
'The American people have a right to know. It's thanks to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange that they know war crimes were committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and there was government duplicity.
'Julian Assange has performed a great public service and far from being a criminal, he is a hero.'
He added: 'I find it shocking that the British government is doing the American government's bidding.
'We should not be consorting and colluding with a regime in America that is suppressing freedom of expression and press freedom. This is an attack upon the right to publish.
'The Trump administration has pursued him with a particular viciousness. They have made it very, very clear they want him prosecuted and they want him jailed.'
But Mr Tatchell said he did not defend Assange over the allegations of rape and sexual assault and said he should face those charges.
He said: 'The Swedish allegations are a different issue. I have always said Julian Assange should face those charges and he has always been willing to. Now it is up to the Swedish authorities.
'I don't defend him over that, but I do defend him as someone who exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.'
On his potential punishment for skipping bail, Mr Tatchell added: 'He has already de facto served seven years' incarceration in the Ecuadorean embassy so I would hope a British judge would adopt a lenient approach to the charge of skipping bail.
'Obviously he should face punishment but there's no need to be severe and it is not in the British public interest to pursue him.
'The main reason he stayed there was because he feared extradition to the US, for which he didn't even know the charges.
'There were people there calling for his life imprisonment so it is understandable he feared that he would be extradited to face major charges that would put him in prison for the rest of his life.'
According to court documents unsealed today, the charge relates to Assange's alleged role in 'one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the US' and he faces a maximum jail term of five years.
Today he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court where he was found guilty of a further charge of failing to surrender following an extradition order from Sweden in 2011, following rape allegations made the year before.
Earlier today, Assange, sporting a scruffy beard and unkempt hair, was dragged out of the embassy in handcuffs by a group of seven men as his stunned supporters watched on as he screamed out 'the UK must resist'.
It comes after Ecuador dramatically withdrew Assange's asylum status after seven years, blaming the Australian's 'discourteous and aggressive behaviour' in continuing to work with WikiLeaks while housed at the embassy.
In a statement today, Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno accused Assange of violating the terms of his asylum by 'interfering in internal affairs of other states' as well as 'blocking security cameras' and 'mistreating guards'.
The arrest came just 24 hours after WikiLeaks accused Ecuador of an 'extensive spying operation', adding that it assumed intel had been handed over to the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Assange has not left Ecuador's diplomatic soil since 2012, when the country offered diplomatic protection from allegations of sexual assault in Sweden.
The case was eventually dropped as investigators were unable to formally notify Assange of the allegations, however Swedish prosecutors revealed today that the case could now be revisited following his arrest.
Julian Assange's fight for freedom: A timeline of the WikiLeaks founder's decade in the limelight
2006
Assange creates Wikileaks with a group of like-minded activists and IT experts to provide a secure way for whistleblowers to leak information. He quickly becomes its figurehead and a lightning rod for criticism.
2010
March: U.S. authorities allege Assange engaged in a conspiracy to hack a classified U.S. government computer with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
July: Wikileaks starts releasing tens of thousands of top secrets documents, including a video of U.S. helicopter pilots gunning down 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. What followed was the release of more than 90,000 classified US military files from the Afghan war and 400,000 from Iraq that included the names of informants.
August: Two Swedish women claim that they each had consensual sex with Assange in separate instances when he was on a 10-day trip to Stockholm. They allege the sex became non-consensual when Assange refused to wear a condom.
First woman claims Assange was staying at her apartment in Stockholm when he ripped off her clothes. She told police that when she realized Assange was trying to have unprotected sex with her, she demanded he use a condom. She claims he ripped the condom before having sex.
Second Swedish woman claims she had sex with Assange at her apartment in Stockholm and she made him wear a condom. She alleges that she later woke up to find Assange having unprotected sex with her.
He was questioned by police in Stockholm and denied the allegations. Assange was granted permission by Swedish authorities to fly back to the U.K.
November: A Swedish court ruled that the investigation should be reopened and Assange should be detained for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. An international arrest warrant is issued by Swedish police through Interpol.
Wikileaks releases its cache of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables.
December: Assange presents himself to London police and appears at an extradition hearing where he is remanded in custody. Assange is granted conditional bail at the High Court in London after his supporters pay £240,000 in cash and sureties.
2011
February: A British judge rules Assange should be extradited to Sweden but Wikileaks found vows to fight the decision.
April: A cache of classified U.S. military documents is released by Wikileaks, including intelligence assessments on nearly all of the 779 people who are detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
November: Assange loses High Court appeal against the decision to extradite him.
2012
June: Assange enters the Ecuadorian embassy in London requesting political asylum.
August: Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador.
2013
June: Assange tells a group of journalists he will not leave the embassy even if sex charges against him are dropped out of fear he will be extradited to the U.S.
2015
August: Swedish prosecutors drop investigation into some of the sex allegations against Assange due to time restrictions. The investigation into suspected rape remains active.
2016
July: Wikileaks begins leaking emails U.S. Democratic Party officials favoring Hillary Clinton.
November: Assange is questioned over the sex allegation at the Ecuadorian Embassy in the presence of Sweden's assistant prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and police inspector Cecilia Redell. The interview spans two days.
2017
January: Barack Obama agrees to free whistleblower Chelsea Manning from prison. Her pending release prompts speculation Assange will end his self-imposed exile after Wikileaks tweeted he would agree to U.S. extradition.
April: Lenin Moreno becomes the new president of Ecuador who was known to want to improve diplomatic relations between his country and the U.S.
May: An investigation into a sex allegation against Assange is suddenly dropped by Swedish prosecutors.
2018
January: Ecuador confirms it has granted citizenship to Assange following his request.
February: Assange is visited by Pamela Anderson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel.
March: The Ecuadorian Embassy suspends Assange's internet access because he wasn't complying with a promise he made the previous year to 'not send messages which entailed interference in relation to other states'.
August: U.S. Senate committee asks to interview Assange as part of their investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
September: Assange steps down as editor of WikiLeaks.
October: Assange reveals he will launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his 'fundamental rights and freedoms'.
November: U.S. Justice Department inadvertently names Assange in a court document that says he has been charged in secret.
2019
January: Assange's lawyers say they are taking action to make President Trump's administration reveal charges 'secretly filed' against him.
April 6: WikiLeaks tweets that a high level Ecuadorian source has told them Assange will be expelled from the embassy within 'hours or days'. But a senior Ecuadorian official says no decision has been made to remove him from the London building.
April 11: Assange has his diplomatic asylum revoked by Ecuador.
ANALYSIS: Turkey's Erdogan is in real trouble
Erdogan, whose party lost Turkey's internal elections, insists on purchase of Russian S-400 missiles, may find itself eased out of NATO.
Yochanan Visser, 12/04/19 00:08
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261743
President Erdogan reasserts authority in TurkeyFlash90
For the first time since Turkey’s Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ascended to power, he’s in trouble at home, while at the same time the tyrant is risking a major confrontation with the United States.
Erdogan’s AKP party lost the March 31 municipal elections to the secular ultra-nationalist MHP party which used to help the AKP party to establish its Islamist regime.
As a result, for the first time in a quarter-century, Turkey’s main population centers such as Istanbul and Ankara will be governed by secular politicians and not by Islamists who take their orders from the Turkish strongman.
This means that Turkey’s economy will be largely controlled by the opposition since the country’s major cities count for more than half of Turkey’s GDP.
Erdogan tried to manipulate the local elections by nominating close allies such as parliament speaker Binali Yildirim and his Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and turned the local elections into a referendum on his rule.
The move backfired, however.
When polls and surveys showed that the AKP party was trailing, Erdogan did what he is best at: He started to demonize his opponents, blaming foreign governments for Turkey’s ailing economy and using religion to mobilize the masses.
Gaza, Jerusalem, Mecca, and Raqqa were more important topics in Erdogan’s campaign than the improvement of living conditions in villages and cities in Turkey.
The residents of major Turkish cities apparently saw through Erdogan’s manipulations and rhetoric, and voted in the MHP party by a clear majority.
Erdogan now refuses to concede in Istanbul claiming the election there was invalid due to fraud at polling stations and demands a rerun of the voting.
Losing Istanbul and Ankara could have devastating consequences for Erdogan’s rule over Turkey since they form the backbone of his autocratic regime, observers say.
“Erdoğan, seemingly on his way to being a modern sultan, no longer seems invincible,” Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute wrote this week.
The loss in the municipal elections is the result of economic mismanagement by the AKP government which caused the Turkish lira to lose 30 percent of its value last year and the near collapse of Turkey’s economy.
The country has slid into recession where unemployment and inflation are rising all the time.
“The opposition’s revival is good for the people of Turkey, who are suffering under Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, as well as for Western governments, which should no longer view Ankara as a friend and ally,” according to Bandow who added that Turkey should be kicked out of NATO.
The Cato Institute fellow was referring to Erdogan’s decision to purchase the state-of-the-art Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile shield, a decision that drew the ire of the Trump Administration.
The Administration has already decided to stop the delivery of equipment for the F-35 stealth fighter plane to Turkey in order to pressure Erdogan and demand he cancel the deal with Putin’s Russia, but the hot-headed leader refuses to comply.
The S-400 missile shield is considered the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft system and the deal between Russia and Turkey is threatening Israel’s air superiority in the Middle East.
Washington is considering the purchase of the Russian system, a threat to the NATO since the deal would jeopardize the secrecy of its own and NATO weapon technologies and has offered to deliver the rival Patriot missile-shield to Turkey.
Erdogan, however, made clear he would not budge and vowed to go ahead with S-400 purchase while at the same time showing interest in buying the Patriot system on his terms and as an addition to the Russian system.
Congress has now adopted bi-partisan legislation that will scuttle the F-35 deal altogether whenever Ankara decides to go ahead with the purchase of the S-400.
Delivery of the S-400 system and the F-35 to Turkey would expose the weak spots of the American stealth jet to Russia, experts warned.
Tensions between the US and Turkey reached boiling point last week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Erdogan’s regime of “devastating consequences” if the Turks go ahead with their planned invasion of Kurdish-held regions in Syria.
Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu have repeatedly warned a Turkish invasion in what the Kurds call Rojova, the Kurdish autonomous region along the Turkish border in Syria, was about to begin but apparently, Ankara fears the American response to this new aggression against the Syrian Kurds.
Unilateral action in Syria by the Turks would have devastating consequences, State Department Robert Paladino told reporters last week after a meeting between Çavuşoğlu and Pompeo in Washington.
Paladino’s remarks led to a new row between the Erdogan regime and Washington with Çavuşoğlu charging that the United States hasn’t “a clear strategy” Syria.
The U.S. recently decided to leave 200 military advisers in Rojova whose presence is meant to deter the Turks from attacking the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which together with the US army defeated Islamic State in Syria.
“Increasingly, Ankara is no friend to America or the West,” Bandow wrote and advised NATO to toss Turkey out of the North Atlantic alliance
“Rather than desperately attempting to hold Ankara in NATO, the allies should begin considering how to ease Turkey out,” the former special assistant to President Reagan added.
What are some of Diane Abbott's other gaffes and controversies?
2008: Abbott told Andrew Neil on BBC show This Week: 'I suppose that some people would judge that on balance Mao did more good than harm. We can’t say that about the Nazis.'
2010: Accused of playing the 'race card' after she defended sending her son James to a £10,000-a-year school claiming: 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.'
2012: Outrages cab drivers by tweeting: 'Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?'
2017: Told LBC Radio it would cost just £300,000 to hire 10,000 more police officers over four years - a grand total of £30 for each.
2017: Wrongly claims 16-year-olds can fight for their country and should therefore be able to vote.
2017: Refuses four times on the Andrew Marr Show to say she regrets past support of the IRA, adding: 'It was 34 years ago, I had a rather splendid afro at the time. I don't have the same hairstyle and I don't have the same views .'
2018: Angered London Police by criticising their tactic of knocking moped muggers off their vehicles, tweeting: 'Knocking people off bikes is potentially very dangerous. It shouldn't be legal for anyone. Police are not above the law.'
2018: Posts fake image of an Israeli fighter plane bombing Iran in a tweet slamming Britain's airstrikes on Syria.
Diane Abbott faces fury for defending Julian Assange by saying his arrest was for 'embarrassing the US military' and 'we all know it's not about the rape charges' as he faces extradition
Labour's Diane Abbott sparked anger this morning by defending Julian Assange
She was accused of 'dismissing' rape claims made against the Wikileaks founder
Abbott told Radio 4's Today programme arrest was 'not about the rape charges'
Instead shadow home secretary said it was about 'embarrassing the US military'
Her remarks led to an angry backlash, including from MPs within her own party
By SEBASTIAN MURPHY-BATES FOR MAILONLINE and DAVID WILCOCK, WHITEHALL CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE and ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:51, 12 April 2019 | UPDATED: 11:54, 12 April 2019
Diane Abbott (pictured) has sparked fury online after comments this morning saw her accused of 'dismissing' sexual assault charges levelled at Assange
Diane Abbott sparked fury this morning after defending Wikileaks founder Julian Assange by appearing to play down rape claims levelled against him.
The Labour MP claimed Assange was being targeted for leaking 'embarrassing information' about the US military and security services, before insisting his arrest was 'not about the rape charges'.
When challenged over the sexual assault allegations made against Mr Assange, Ms Abbott said that the 'charges were never brought'.
But her defence of the 47-year-old former computer hacker was branded 'outrageous' and 'disgraceful', with members of her own party among the MPs outraged by her response.
Assange sought asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on a rape claim.
The investigation into the alleged rape, which he denied, was later dropped because he had evaded the arrest warrant. But yesterday Swedish prosecutors said they will look at resuming it after his accuser asked for the case to be reopened.
It came hours after Assange was arrested and dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy when his asylum was dramatically withdrawn by the country.
He was later found guilty of skipping bail in the UK and also faces extradition to the US after the American government charged him with hacking 750,000 classified documents.
Diane Abbott (pictured, right) has sparked fury online after comments this morning saw her accused of 'dismissing' sexual assault charges levelled at Assange (left)
Abbott was slammed online following her remarks
The shadow home secretary was criticised following her comments
Julian Assange's rape accuser
The alleged sexual assault victim of Julian Assange
The lawyer acting for the woman accusing the WikiLeaks founder of rape (left) has been pushing to reopen the case with Swedish prosecutors. The allegations by the woman who said she was sexually assaulted (right) by Assange were dropped in 2017
Pictured: Assange after he was arrested following a seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian embassy yesterday
Video playing bottom right...
Click here to expand to full page
Abbott told John Humphrys on Radio 4 today that there may be human rights grounds on which to oppose Assange's extradition.
The BBC presenter fired back that Assange had skipped bail and only sought diplomatic immunity in the building when he faced sexual assault allegations in Sweden and refused to go to the country.
She responded 'those charges were never brought' before Humphrys pointed out that Swedish law prevents suspects from being charge in their absence.
Abbott then repeated her assertion and said the pursuit of Assange had nothing to do with alleged rape.
'The allegations were made but the charges were never brought,' she said. 'We all know what this is about. It's not the rape charges - as they are - it's about the Wikileaks and all of that embarrassing information about the activities of the American military and security services that was made public.'
After saying for a third time that 'charges were never brought', Abbott said Assange should face justice if the Swedish government comes forward with charges.
'Much of the information he brought into public domain, it could be argued, were very much in the public interest,' the Labour politician added.
Abbott's remarks sparked outrage on social media as people took to Twitter to point out that Assange had 'escaped' charges by seeking immunity in the embassy.
It's not the first time the gaffe-prone MP has come under fire for comments made in an interview, with previous controversies including her assertion that dictator Chairman Mao did more good than harm.
Labour's Jess Philips and Bridgett Philipson joined Tory Anna Soubry to condemn Abbott's comments online. It comes after yesterday their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, called for Britain to 'oppose' any attempt at extraditing Assange to the states.
Tory MP James Cleverly was among the people to criticise Abbott
Conservative MP Anna Soubry said Abbott's behaviour was 'disgraceful'
People reacted with outrage today at Diane Abbott's remarks
Abbott sparked fury this morning with her comments about the WikiLeaks co-founder
People took to Twitter to voice their fury about the comments
The shadow home secretary's appearance on Radio 4 sparked anger from Labour MP Jess Philips
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, pictured, told the House of Commons today Julian Assange was only being pursued by the US for 'exposing wrongdoing'
Supporters of Assange's activism point to him releasing footage of American troops firing on civilians, but his opponents highlight instances of revealing the identities of Afghan informants working with the US to topple Islamists.
It came after she joined left-wing campaigners in condemning Assange's arrest yesterday.
The WikiLeaks founder, 47, is facing 12 months in a British prison after being hauled out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London after a seven-year stay and brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court, where he was found guilty of skipping bail.
What are some of Diane Abbott's other gaffes and controversies?
2008: Abbott told Andrew Neil on BBC show This Week: 'I suppose that some people would judge that on balance Mao did more good than harm. We can’t say that about the Nazis.'
2010: Accused of playing the 'race card' after she defended sending her son James to a £10,000-a-year school claiming: 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.'
2012: Outrages cab drivers by tweeting: 'Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?'
2017: Told LBC Radio it would cost just £300,000 to hire 10,000 more police officers over four years - a grand total of £30 for each.
2017: Wrongly claims 16-year-olds can fight for their country and should therefore be able to vote.
2017: Refuses four times on the Andrew Marr Show to say she regrets past support of the IRA, adding: 'It was 34 years ago, I had a rather splendid afro at the time. I don't have the same hairstyle and I don't have the same views .'
2018: Angered London Police by criticising their tactic of knocking moped muggers off their vehicles, tweeting: 'Knocking people off bikes is potentially very dangerous. It shouldn't be legal for anyone. Police are not above the law.'
2018: Posts fake image of an Israeli fighter plane bombing Iran in a tweet slamming Britain's airstrikes on Syria.
In a sensational turn of events, he was also charged by the US government with conspiring with American whistleblower Chelsea Manning 'to break a password to a classified government computer' in 2010, for which he could be jailed for five years.
Ms Abbott joined the likes of Pamela Anderson, Edward Snowden, Vivienne Westwood and Peter Tatchell in voicing their concern for Assange.
Ms Abbott told the Commons: 'Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security.
'He is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces.'
US whistleblower Snowden warned the arrest was a 'dark moment for press freedom,' while fashion designer Westwood protested outside Westminster Magistrates Court.
Snowden, a former CIA agent tweeted: 'Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of-like it or not-award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books.'
Snowden is currently living in exile Russia having fled the US after leaking a huge cache of declassified documents back in 2013.
Assange's close friend Pamela Anderson also blasted the arrest on Twitter, calling the UK 'America's b****' and claiming it was a 'diversion from Brexit'.
And the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed the move was 'the hand of democracy squeezing the throat of freedom'.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Abbott said: 'On this side of the House, we're glad that Julian Assange will be able to access medical care, treatment and facilities because there have been worrying reports about his ill health.'
She added: 'Even though the only charge he may face in this country is in relation to his bail hearings, the reason we are debating this this afternoon is entirely to do with the whistleblowing activities of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.
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'It is this whistleblowing activity into illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale that has put Julian Assange in the crosshairs of the US administration.
'It is for this reason that they have once more issued an extradition warrant against Mr Assange.'
She also compared his case to that of Gary McKinnon, who hacked into US military computers from the bedroom of his North London flat.
Labour spokesman Seumas Milne was spotted canoodling with Julian Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson at Courthouse Hotel in Shoreditch in June 2017 (pictured) +9
Labour spokesman Seumas Milne was spotted canoodling with Julian Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson at Courthouse Hotel in Shoreditch in June 2017 (pictured)
It came as Mr Corbyn dodged the opportunity to praise the arrest when it was brought up in Parliament by Prime Minister Theresa May earlier today.
Ms Abbott claimed a 'UN panel' ruled Assange was being 'arbitrarily detained and should be allowed to walk free' from the Ecuadorian embassy.
In response, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said 'the whole country will be pretty astounded by the tone she has taken', saying Ms Abbott was 'suggesting that we should not apply the rule of law to an individual'.
He accused her of 'not giving quite correct information' over her claims the UN had ruled in Assange's favour, saying 'the UN has no view on the Assange case'.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the US was leading an attack on the press and freedom of speech by arresting Assange, and the slammed the British government for cooperating.
Speaking on Sky News, he said: 'What Julian Assange did was publish information that had been leaked by Chelsea Manning.
'He was not the leaker. He published the information in the same way the Guardian did and the New York Times did.
'But the Trump administration is not going after the Guardian or the New York Times, they are after Julian Assange.
'What he published was the truth and the American government and military should be accountable.
'The American people have a right to know. It's thanks to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange that they know war crimes were committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and there was government duplicity.
'Julian Assange has performed a great public service and far from being a criminal, he is a hero.'
He added: 'I find it shocking that the British government is doing the American government's bidding.
'We should not be consorting and colluding with a regime in America that is suppressing freedom of expression and press freedom. This is an attack upon the right to publish.
'The Trump administration has pursued him with a particular viciousness. They have made it very, very clear they want him prosecuted and they want him jailed.'
But Mr Tatchell said he did not defend Assange over the allegations of rape and sexual assault and said he should face those charges.
He said: 'The Swedish allegations are a different issue. I have always said Julian Assange should face those charges and he has always been willing to. Now it is up to the Swedish authorities.
'I don't defend him over that, but I do defend him as someone who exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.'
On his potential punishment for skipping bail, Mr Tatchell added: 'He has already de facto served seven years' incarceration in the Ecuadorean embassy so I would hope a British judge would adopt a lenient approach to the charge of skipping bail.
'Obviously he should face punishment but there's no need to be severe and it is not in the British public interest to pursue him.
'The main reason he stayed there was because he feared extradition to the US, for which he didn't even know the charges.
'There were people there calling for his life imprisonment so it is understandable he feared that he would be extradited to face major charges that would put him in prison for the rest of his life.'
According to court documents unsealed today, the charge relates to Assange's alleged role in 'one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the US' and he faces a maximum jail term of five years.
Today he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court where he was found guilty of a further charge of failing to surrender following an extradition order from Sweden in 2011, following rape allegations made the year before.
Earlier today, Assange, sporting a scruffy beard and unkempt hair, was dragged out of the embassy in handcuffs by a group of seven men as his stunned supporters watched on as he screamed out 'the UK must resist'.
It comes after Ecuador dramatically withdrew Assange's asylum status after seven years, blaming the Australian's 'discourteous and aggressive behaviour' in continuing to work with WikiLeaks while housed at the embassy.
In a statement today, Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno accused Assange of violating the terms of his asylum by 'interfering in internal affairs of other states' as well as 'blocking security cameras' and 'mistreating guards'.
The arrest came just 24 hours after WikiLeaks accused Ecuador of an 'extensive spying operation', adding that it assumed intel had been handed over to the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Assange has not left Ecuador's diplomatic soil since 2012, when the country offered diplomatic protection from allegations of sexual assault in Sweden.
The case was eventually dropped as investigators were unable to formally notify Assange of the allegations, however Swedish prosecutors revealed today that the case could now be revisited following his arrest.
Julian Assange's fight for freedom: A timeline of the WikiLeaks founder's decade in the limelight
2006
Assange creates Wikileaks with a group of like-minded activists and IT experts to provide a secure way for whistleblowers to leak information. He quickly becomes its figurehead and a lightning rod for criticism.
2010
March: U.S. authorities allege Assange engaged in a conspiracy to hack a classified U.S. government computer with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
July: Wikileaks starts releasing tens of thousands of top secrets documents, including a video of U.S. helicopter pilots gunning down 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. What followed was the release of more than 90,000 classified US military files from the Afghan war and 400,000 from Iraq that included the names of informants.
August: Two Swedish women claim that they each had consensual sex with Assange in separate instances when he was on a 10-day trip to Stockholm. They allege the sex became non-consensual when Assange refused to wear a condom.
First woman claims Assange was staying at her apartment in Stockholm when he ripped off her clothes. She told police that when she realized Assange was trying to have unprotected sex with her, she demanded he use a condom. She claims he ripped the condom before having sex.
Second Swedish woman claims she had sex with Assange at her apartment in Stockholm and she made him wear a condom. She alleges that she later woke up to find Assange having unprotected sex with her.
He was questioned by police in Stockholm and denied the allegations. Assange was granted permission by Swedish authorities to fly back to the U.K.
November: A Swedish court ruled that the investigation should be reopened and Assange should be detained for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. An international arrest warrant is issued by Swedish police through Interpol.
Wikileaks releases its cache of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables.
December: Assange presents himself to London police and appears at an extradition hearing where he is remanded in custody. Assange is granted conditional bail at the High Court in London after his supporters pay £240,000 in cash and sureties.
2011
February: A British judge rules Assange should be extradited to Sweden but Wikileaks found vows to fight the decision.
April: A cache of classified U.S. military documents is released by Wikileaks, including intelligence assessments on nearly all of the 779 people who are detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
November: Assange loses High Court appeal against the decision to extradite him.
2012
June: Assange enters the Ecuadorian embassy in London requesting political asylum.
August: Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador.
2013
June: Assange tells a group of journalists he will not leave the embassy even if sex charges against him are dropped out of fear he will be extradited to the U.S.
2015
August: Swedish prosecutors drop investigation into some of the sex allegations against Assange due to time restrictions. The investigation into suspected rape remains active.
2016
July: Wikileaks begins leaking emails U.S. Democratic Party officials favoring Hillary Clinton.
November: Assange is questioned over the sex allegation at the Ecuadorian Embassy in the presence of Sweden's assistant prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and police inspector Cecilia Redell. The interview spans two days.
2017
January: Barack Obama agrees to free whistleblower Chelsea Manning from prison. Her pending release prompts speculation Assange will end his self-imposed exile after Wikileaks tweeted he would agree to U.S. extradition.
April: Lenin Moreno becomes the new president of Ecuador who was known to want to improve diplomatic relations between his country and the U.S.
May: An investigation into a sex allegation against Assange is suddenly dropped by Swedish prosecutors.
2018
January: Ecuador confirms it has granted citizenship to Assange following his request.
February: Assange is visited by Pamela Anderson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel.
March: The Ecuadorian Embassy suspends Assange's internet access because he wasn't complying with a promise he made the previous year to 'not send messages which entailed interference in relation to other states'.
August: U.S. Senate committee asks to interview Assange as part of their investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
September: Assange steps down as editor of WikiLeaks.
October: Assange reveals he will launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his 'fundamental rights and freedoms'.
November: U.S. Justice Department inadvertently names Assange in a court document that says he has been charged in secret.
2019
January: Assange's lawyers say they are taking action to make President Trump's administration reveal charges 'secretly filed' against him.
April 6: WikiLeaks tweets that a high level Ecuadorian source has told them Assange will be expelled from the embassy within 'hours or days'. But a senior Ecuadorian official says no decision has been made to remove him from the London building.
April 11: Assange has his diplomatic asylum revoked by Ecuador.
ANALYSIS: Turkey's Erdogan is in real trouble
Erdogan, whose party lost Turkey's internal elections, insists on purchase of Russian S-400 missiles, may find itself eased out of NATO.
Yochanan Visser, 12/04/19 00:08
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261743
President Erdogan reasserts authority in TurkeyFlash90
For the first time since Turkey’s Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ascended to power, he’s in trouble at home, while at the same time the tyrant is risking a major confrontation with the United States.
Erdogan’s AKP party lost the March 31 municipal elections to the secular ultra-nationalist MHP party which used to help the AKP party to establish its Islamist regime.
As a result, for the first time in a quarter-century, Turkey’s main population centers such as Istanbul and Ankara will be governed by secular politicians and not by Islamists who take their orders from the Turkish strongman.
This means that Turkey’s economy will be largely controlled by the opposition since the country’s major cities count for more than half of Turkey’s GDP.
Erdogan tried to manipulate the local elections by nominating close allies such as parliament speaker Binali Yildirim and his Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and turned the local elections into a referendum on his rule.
The move backfired, however.
When polls and surveys showed that the AKP party was trailing, Erdogan did what he is best at: He started to demonize his opponents, blaming foreign governments for Turkey’s ailing economy and using religion to mobilize the masses.
Gaza, Jerusalem, Mecca, and Raqqa were more important topics in Erdogan’s campaign than the improvement of living conditions in villages and cities in Turkey.
The residents of major Turkish cities apparently saw through Erdogan’s manipulations and rhetoric, and voted in the MHP party by a clear majority.
Erdogan now refuses to concede in Istanbul claiming the election there was invalid due to fraud at polling stations and demands a rerun of the voting.
Losing Istanbul and Ankara could have devastating consequences for Erdogan’s rule over Turkey since they form the backbone of his autocratic regime, observers say.
“Erdoğan, seemingly on his way to being a modern sultan, no longer seems invincible,” Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute wrote this week.
The loss in the municipal elections is the result of economic mismanagement by the AKP government which caused the Turkish lira to lose 30 percent of its value last year and the near collapse of Turkey’s economy.
The country has slid into recession where unemployment and inflation are rising all the time.
“The opposition’s revival is good for the people of Turkey, who are suffering under Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, as well as for Western governments, which should no longer view Ankara as a friend and ally,” according to Bandow who added that Turkey should be kicked out of NATO.
The Cato Institute fellow was referring to Erdogan’s decision to purchase the state-of-the-art Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile shield, a decision that drew the ire of the Trump Administration.
The Administration has already decided to stop the delivery of equipment for the F-35 stealth fighter plane to Turkey in order to pressure Erdogan and demand he cancel the deal with Putin’s Russia, but the hot-headed leader refuses to comply.
The S-400 missile shield is considered the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft system and the deal between Russia and Turkey is threatening Israel’s air superiority in the Middle East.
Washington is considering the purchase of the Russian system, a threat to the NATO since the deal would jeopardize the secrecy of its own and NATO weapon technologies and has offered to deliver the rival Patriot missile-shield to Turkey.
Erdogan, however, made clear he would not budge and vowed to go ahead with S-400 purchase while at the same time showing interest in buying the Patriot system on his terms and as an addition to the Russian system.
Congress has now adopted bi-partisan legislation that will scuttle the F-35 deal altogether whenever Ankara decides to go ahead with the purchase of the S-400.
Delivery of the S-400 system and the F-35 to Turkey would expose the weak spots of the American stealth jet to Russia, experts warned.
Tensions between the US and Turkey reached boiling point last week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Erdogan’s regime of “devastating consequences” if the Turks go ahead with their planned invasion of Kurdish-held regions in Syria.
Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu have repeatedly warned a Turkish invasion in what the Kurds call Rojova, the Kurdish autonomous region along the Turkish border in Syria, was about to begin but apparently, Ankara fears the American response to this new aggression against the Syrian Kurds.
Unilateral action in Syria by the Turks would have devastating consequences, State Department Robert Paladino told reporters last week after a meeting between Çavuşoğlu and Pompeo in Washington.
Paladino’s remarks led to a new row between the Erdogan regime and Washington with Çavuşoğlu charging that the United States hasn’t “a clear strategy” Syria.
The U.S. recently decided to leave 200 military advisers in Rojova whose presence is meant to deter the Turks from attacking the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which together with the US army defeated Islamic State in Syria.
“Increasingly, Ankara is no friend to America or the West,” Bandow wrote and advised NATO to toss Turkey out of the North Atlantic alliance
“Rather than desperately attempting to hold Ankara in NATO, the allies should begin considering how to ease Turkey out,” the former special assistant to President Reagan added.
What are some of Diane Abbott's other gaffes and controversies?
2008: Abbott told Andrew Neil on BBC show This Week: 'I suppose that some people would judge that on balance Mao did more good than harm. We can’t say that about the Nazis.'
2010: Accused of playing the 'race card' after she defended sending her son James to a £10,000-a-year school claiming: 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.'
2012: Outrages cab drivers by tweeting: 'Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?'
2017: Told LBC Radio it would cost just £300,000 to hire 10,000 more police officers over four years - a grand total of £30 for each.
2017: Wrongly claims 16-year-olds can fight for their country and should therefore be able to vote.
2017: Refuses four times on the Andrew Marr Show to say she regrets past support of the IRA, adding: 'It was 34 years ago, I had a rather splendid afro at the time. I don't have the same hairstyle and I don't have the same views .'
2018: Angered London Police by criticising their tactic of knocking moped muggers off their vehicles, tweeting: 'Knocking people off bikes is potentially very dangerous. It shouldn't be legal for anyone. Police are not above the law.'
2018: Posts fake image of an Israeli fighter plane bombing Iran in a tweet slamming Britain's airstrikes on Syria.
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Re: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Admin Thu 11 Apr 2019, 4:39 pm
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:08
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:31
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s1g
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Reuters / Olivia Harris
12181
The US indictment against Julian Assange alleges that the whistleblower engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army soldier Chelsea Manning in 2010, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
The statement said Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and alleged attempts to break the password for a classified US government computer.
U.S. Attorney EDVA
@EDVAnews
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, charged in computer hacking conspiracy. Click here for copy of the indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
3,774
1:59 PM - Apr 11, 2019
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WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy
Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit
justice.gov
3,246 people are talking about this
The indictment alleges that Assange helped Manning crack a password stored on a US Department of Defense computer, which Manning had access to in connection with her role as an intelligence analyst.
View image on Twitter
Jeff Stone
@jeffstone500
#Assange has been charged with "agreeing to assist [Chelsea] Manning in cracking a password" stored on a DOD computer connected to a USG network used for classified documents and communications, per the indictment. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
12
2:08 PM - Apr 11, 2019
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Manning and Assange had “real-time discussions” regarding the transmission of classified documents, during which Assange allegedly encouraged Manning to provide “more information.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange has been arrested 'in relation to a US extradition request' - lawyer
“After this upload, that’s all I really have got left,” Manning allegedly told Assange, who is alleged to have replied: “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”
View image on Twitter
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
Replying to @ggreenwald
The DOJ says part of what Assange did to justify his prosecution - beyond allegedly helping Manning get the documents - is he encouraged Manning to get more docs for him to publish. Journalists do this with sources constantly: it's the criminalization of journalism
2,643
2:11 PM - Apr 11, 2019
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Assange will be "presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," but faces a maximum of five years in prison, if convicted, the statement said.
Assange was arrested by UK police at the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday morning, after Quito withdrew asylum and then suspended his citizenship. The Australian whistleblower had been living in exile at the embassy in west London for nearly seven years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Exposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Reuters / Olivia Harris
12181
The US indictment against Julian Assange alleges that the whistleblower engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army soldier Chelsea Manning in 2010, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
The statement said Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and alleged attempts to break the password for a classified US government computer.
U.S. Attorney EDVA
@EDVAnews
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, charged in computer hacking conspiracy. Click here for copy of the indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
3,774
1:59 PM - Apr 11, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy
Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit
justice.gov
3,246 people are talking about this
The indictment alleges that Assange helped Manning crack a password stored on a US Department of Defense computer, which Manning had access to in connection with her role as an intelligence analyst.
View image on Twitter
Jeff Stone
@jeffstone500
#Assange has been charged with "agreeing to assist [Chelsea] Manning in cracking a password" stored on a DOD computer connected to a USG network used for classified documents and communications, per the indictment. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
12
2:08 PM - Apr 11, 2019
19 people are talking about this
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Manning and Assange had “real-time discussions” regarding the transmission of classified documents, during which Assange allegedly encouraged Manning to provide “more information.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange has been arrested 'in relation to a US extradition request' - lawyer
“After this upload, that’s all I really have got left,” Manning allegedly told Assange, who is alleged to have replied: “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”
View image on Twitter
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
Replying to @ggreenwald
The DOJ says part of what Assange did to justify his prosecution - beyond allegedly helping Manning get the documents - is he encouraged Manning to get more docs for him to publish. Journalists do this with sources constantly: it's the criminalization of journalism
2,643
2:11 PM - Apr 11, 2019
1,838 people are talking about this
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Assange will be "presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," but faces a maximum of five years in prison, if convicted, the statement said.
Assange was arrested by UK police at the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday morning, after Quito withdrew asylum and then suspended his citizenship. The Australian whistleblower had been living in exile at the embassy in west London for nearly seven years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Exposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:08
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:31
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s1g
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Reuters / Olivia Harris12181
The US indictment against Julian Assange alleges that the whistleblower engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army soldier Chelsea Manning in 2010, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
The statement said Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and alleged attempts to break the password for a classified US government computer.
U.S. Attorney EDVA
@EDVAnews
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, charged in computer hacking conspiracy. Click here for copy of the indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
3,774
1:59 PM - Apr 11, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy
Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit
justice.gov
3,246 people are talking about this
The indictment alleges that Assange helped Manning crack a password stored on a US Department of Defense computer, which Manning had access to in connection with her role as an intelligence analyst.
View image on Twitter
Jeff Stone
@jeffstone500
#Assange has been charged with "agreeing to assist [Chelsea] Manning in cracking a password" stored on a DOD computer connected to a USG network used for classified documents and communications, per the indictment. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
12
2:08 PM - Apr 11, 2019
19 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Manning and Assange had “real-time discussions” regarding the transmission of classified documents, during which Assange allegedly encouraged Manning to provide “more information.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange has been arrested 'in relation to a US extradition request' - lawyer
“After this upload, that’s all I really have got left,” Manning allegedly told Assange, who is alleged to have replied: “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”
View image on Twitter
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
Replying to @ggreenwald
The DOJ says part of what Assange did to justify his prosecution - beyond allegedly helping Manning get the documents - is he encouraged Manning to get more docs for him to publish. Journalists do this with sources constantly: it's the criminalization of journalism
2,643
2:11 PM - Apr 11, 2019
1,838 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Assange will be "presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," but faces a maximum of five years in prison, if convicted, the statement said.
Assange was arrested by UK police at the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday morning, after Quito withdrew asylum and then suspended his citizenship. The Australian whistleblower had been living in exile at the embassy in west London for nearly seven years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Exposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Reuters / Olivia Harris12181
The US indictment against Julian Assange alleges that the whistleblower engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army soldier Chelsea Manning in 2010, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
The statement said Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and alleged attempts to break the password for a classified US government computer.
U.S. Attorney EDVA
@EDVAnews
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, charged in computer hacking conspiracy. Click here for copy of the indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
3,774
1:59 PM - Apr 11, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy
Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit
justice.gov
3,246 people are talking about this
The indictment alleges that Assange helped Manning crack a password stored on a US Department of Defense computer, which Manning had access to in connection with her role as an intelligence analyst.
View image on Twitter
Jeff Stone
@jeffstone500
#Assange has been charged with "agreeing to assist [Chelsea] Manning in cracking a password" stored on a DOD computer connected to a USG network used for classified documents and communications, per the indictment. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-computer-hacking-conspiracy …
12
2:08 PM - Apr 11, 2019
19 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Manning and Assange had “real-time discussions” regarding the transmission of classified documents, during which Assange allegedly encouraged Manning to provide “more information.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange has been arrested 'in relation to a US extradition request' - lawyer
“After this upload, that’s all I really have got left,” Manning allegedly told Assange, who is alleged to have replied: “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”
View image on Twitter
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
Replying to @ggreenwald
The DOJ says part of what Assange did to justify his prosecution - beyond allegedly helping Manning get the documents - is he encouraged Manning to get more docs for him to publish. Journalists do this with sources constantly: it's the criminalization of journalism
2,643
2:11 PM - Apr 11, 2019
1,838 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Assange will be "presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," but faces a maximum of five years in prison, if convicted, the statement said.
Assange was arrested by UK police at the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday morning, after Quito withdrew asylum and then suspended his citizenship. The Australian whistleblower had been living in exile at the embassy in west London for nearly seven years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Exposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange
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Re: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Admin Thu 11 Apr 2019, 4:13 pm
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 09:38
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0k
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017. Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
https://www.rt.com/news/433783-wikileaks-assange-ecuador-uk/
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-chomsky-ali-673/
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-malaysia-democracy-221/
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017. Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6911187/Wikileaks-founder-Julian-Assange-arrested-police.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is ARRESTED by British police at Ecuadorian Embassy in London after his asylum is withdrawn seven years after he was given refuge
Wikileaks founder dragged out of Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of police officers today
Comes as Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country in 2012
Ecuador said its decision came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'
President asked UK to guarantee he would not be extradited anywhere he could face torture or death penalty
The 47-year-old currently in custody and set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'
By ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:36, 11 April 2019 | UPDATED: 11:20, 11 April 2019
Julian Assange has been arrested by British police today after Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country.
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London.
He is currently in police custody and is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'.
Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno said the decision to withdraw Assange's asylum status came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'.
Moreno added that he had asked Britain to guarantee that Assange would not be extradited to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty.
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'.
Assange, 47, has not left Ecuador's diplomatic soil for seven years amid fears he would be arrested and extradited for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables.
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Julian Assange pictured as he is led out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in handcuffs following his sensational arrest by British police today
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London
Julian Assange (pictured bottom left) as he is arrested by police after being ejected from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Assange is loaded into the back of a police van in central London before being taken away ahead of a court appearance in the near future
The news of his arrest was confirmed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Twitter, who said that 'no on was above the law'.
Writing to Twitter, he said: 'Nearly 7yrs after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK.
'I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation & for its professionalism. No one is above the law.'
His arrest comes a day after Wikileaks accused the Ecuadorean Government of an 'extensive spying operation' against Assange.
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WikiLeaks claims meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the embassy over the past year were secretly filmed.
Assange had refused to leave the embassy, claiming he would be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he did so.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Hans Crescent, SW1 on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates' Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.
'He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible.
A police van sits outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police and taken into custody following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'
'The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.'
WikiLeaks tweeted: 'URGENT: Ecuador has illigally (sic) terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law.
'He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago.'
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, said in a statement on Assange: 'Ecuador is a generous country and a nation with open arms.
'Ours is a government respectful of the principles of international law, and of the institution of the right of asylum.
'Granting or withdrawing asylum is a sovereign right of the Ecuadorian state, according to international law.
'Today, I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behaviour of Mr Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declaration of its allied organisation, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.
'Ecuador sovereignly has decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr Assange in 2012.
'For six years and 10 months, the Ecuadorian people have protected the human rights of Mr Assange and have provided for his everyday needs at the facilities of our Embassy in London.
'When I became the President of Ecuador, I inherited this situation and decided to adopt a protocol to set the daily life rules at the Embassy, which is less than anyone may expect from a guest hosted at his own house.
'Ecuador has fulfilled its obligations in the framework of international law.
'On the other hand, Mr Assange violated, repeatedly, clear cut provisions of the conventions on diplomatic asylum of Havana and Caracas; despite the fact that he was requested on several occasions to respect and abide by these rules.'
British police are pictured arriving at the embassy moments before the WikiLeaks founder was dragged outside in handcuffs
Share or comment on this article: Wikileaks' Julian Assange arrested after Ecuadorian Embassy ejection
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 12:13
Get short URLhttps://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
In the tweet, Snowden said the images of a publisher of “award-winning journalism” being dragged out of the embassy would “end up in the history books."
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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11:35 AM - Apr 11, 2019
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“Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom,” he wrote.
View image on Twitter
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Important background for journalists covering the arrest of Julian #Assange by Ecuador: the United Nations formally ruled his detention to be arbitrary, a violation of human rights. They have repeatedly issued statements calling for him to walk free--including very recently.
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Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday morning, just days after WikiLeaks had said his removal from the building was imminent following a withdrawal of asylum from Quito.
The whistleblower, who has released hundreds of thousands of authentic documents and diplomatic cables, had been living in exile at the embassy for the last 6 years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
WATCH Julian Assange dragged out of Ecuadorian embassy shouting 'UK must resist'
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Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URLAssange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s1k
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Julian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Julian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Julian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Julian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Julian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Julian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 09:38
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0k
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017.
ReutersWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
https://www.rt.com/news/433783-wikileaks-assange-ecuador-uk/
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-chomsky-ali-673/
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-malaysia-democracy-221/
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017.
ReutersWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6911187/Wikileaks-founder-Julian-Assange-arrested-police.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is ARRESTED by British police at Ecuadorian Embassy in London after his asylum is withdrawn seven years after he was given refuge
Wikileaks founder dragged out of Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of police officers today
Comes as Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country in 2012
Ecuador said its decision came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'
President asked UK to guarantee he would not be extradited anywhere he could face torture or death penalty
The 47-year-old currently in custody and set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'
By ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:36, 11 April 2019 | UPDATED: 11:20, 11 April 2019
Julian Assange has been arrested by British police today after Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country.
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London.
He is currently in police custody and is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'.
Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno said the decision to withdraw Assange's asylum status came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'.
Moreno added that he had asked Britain to guarantee that Assange would not be extradited to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty.
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'.
Assange, 47, has not left Ecuador's diplomatic soil for seven years amid fears he would be arrested and extradited for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables.
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Julian Assange pictured as he is led out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in handcuffs following his sensational arrest by British police today
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London
Julian Assange (pictured bottom left) as he is arrested by police after being ejected from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Assange is loaded into the back of a police van in central London before being taken away ahead of a court appearance in the near future
The news of his arrest was confirmed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Twitter, who said that 'no on was above the law'.
Writing to Twitter, he said: 'Nearly 7yrs after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK.
'I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation & for its professionalism. No one is above the law.'
His arrest comes a day after Wikileaks accused the Ecuadorean Government of an 'extensive spying operation' against Assange.
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WikiLeaks claims meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the embassy over the past year were secretly filmed.
Assange had refused to leave the embassy, claiming he would be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he did so.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Hans Crescent, SW1 on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates' Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.
'He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible.
A police van sits outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police and taken into custody following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'
'The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.'
WikiLeaks tweeted: 'URGENT: Ecuador has illigally (sic) terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law.
'He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago.'
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, said in a statement on Assange: 'Ecuador is a generous country and a nation with open arms.
'Ours is a government respectful of the principles of international law, and of the institution of the right of asylum.
'Granting or withdrawing asylum is a sovereign right of the Ecuadorian state, according to international law.
'Today, I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behaviour of Mr Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declaration of its allied organisation, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.
'Ecuador sovereignly has decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr Assange in 2012.
'For six years and 10 months, the Ecuadorian people have protected the human rights of Mr Assange and have provided for his everyday needs at the facilities of our Embassy in London.
'When I became the President of Ecuador, I inherited this situation and decided to adopt a protocol to set the daily life rules at the Embassy, which is less than anyone may expect from a guest hosted at his own house.
'Ecuador has fulfilled its obligations in the framework of international law.
'On the other hand, Mr Assange violated, repeatedly, clear cut provisions of the conventions on diplomatic asylum of Havana and Caracas; despite the fact that he was requested on several occasions to respect and abide by these rules.'
British police are pictured arriving at the embassy moments before the WikiLeaks founder was dragged outside in handcuffs
Share or comment on this article: Wikileaks' Julian Assange arrested after Ecuadorian Embassy ejection
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermidFellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 12:13
Get short URLhttps://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermidFellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
In the tweet, Snowden said the images of a publisher of “award-winning journalism” being dragged out of the embassy would “end up in the history books."
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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“Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom,” he wrote.
View image on Twitter
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Important background for journalists covering the arrest of Julian #Assange by Ecuador: the United Nations formally ruled his detention to be arbitrary, a violation of human rights. They have repeatedly issued statements calling for him to walk free--including very recently.
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Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday morning, just days after WikiLeaks had said his removal from the building was imminent following a withdrawal of asylum from Quito.
The whistleblower, who has released hundreds of thousands of authentic documents and diplomatic cables, had been living in exile at the embassy for the last 6 years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
WATCH Julian Assange dragged out of Ecuadorian embassy shouting 'UK must resist'
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Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URLAssange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 13:38
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 14:00
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s1k
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry NichollsJulian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry NichollsJulian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry NichollsJulian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry NichollsJulian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry NichollsJulian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail
REUTERS/Henry NichollsJulian Assange has pleaded not guilty to failing to surrender to bail, in a court appearance following his arrest. The WikiLeaks founder was arrested by British police for the bail breach, and following a US extradition request.
Assange was charged with failing to surrender to custody in 2012, when he faced extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation. Swedish authorities dropped the charges, but Assange was still arrested for breaching the conditions of his original bail.
Assange had remained under de-facto house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy since, fearing extradition to the United States. A US indictment alleges that Assange engaged in “conspiracy” with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010, for his role in publishing a tranche of classified US military documents, some detailing alleged war crimes.
Although a secret warrant for his extradition was revealed last year, the US Justice Department officially charged Assange with conspiracy on Thursday. The WikiLeaks head is charged with “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.”
ALSO ON RT.COM
Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statement
Washington’s extradition request was central to Assange’s arrest, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Thursday. May welcomed Assange’s capture, declaring “no one is above the law.”
Emerging from the Embassy clutching a copy of Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State,’ a frail and unkempt Assange nevertheless flashed reporters a thumbs-up as he was driven to Westminster Magistrates Court in a police van.
Should Assange be extradited to the US, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, that sentence could increase significantly should additional charges of espionage be tacked on.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Admin Thu 11 Apr 2019, 12:29 pm
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 09:38
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0k
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017. Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
https://www.rt.com/news/433783-wikileaks-assange-ecuador-uk/
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-chomsky-ali-673/
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-malaysia-democracy-221/
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017. Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6911187/Wikileaks-founder-Julian-Assange-arrested-police.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is ARRESTED by British police at Ecuadorian Embassy in London after his asylum is withdrawn seven years after he was given refuge
Wikileaks founder dragged out of Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of police officers today
Comes as Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country in 2012
Ecuador said its decision came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'
President asked UK to guarantee he would not be extradited anywhere he could face torture or death penalty
The 47-year-old currently in custody and set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'
By ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:36, 11 April 2019 | UPDATED: 11:20, 11 April 2019
Julian Assange has been arrested by British police today after Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country.
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London.
He is currently in police custody and is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'.
Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno said the decision to withdraw Assange's asylum status came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'.
Moreno added that he had asked Britain to guarantee that Assange would not be extradited to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty.
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'.
Assange, 47, has not left Ecuador's diplomatic soil for seven years amid fears he would be arrested and extradited for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables.
Video playing bottom right...
Click here to expand to full page
Julian Assange pictured as he is led out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in handcuffs following his sensational arrest by British police today
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London
Julian Assange (pictured bottom left) as he is arrested by police after being ejected from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Assange is loaded into the back of a police van in central London before being taken away ahead of a court appearance in the near future
The news of his arrest was confirmed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Twitter, who said that 'no on was above the law'.
Writing to Twitter, he said: 'Nearly 7yrs after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK.
'I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation & for its professionalism. No one is above the law.'
His arrest comes a day after Wikileaks accused the Ecuadorean Government of an 'extensive spying operation' against Assange.
RELATED ARTICLES
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WikiLeaks claims meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the embassy over the past year were secretly filmed.
Assange had refused to leave the embassy, claiming he would be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he did so.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Hans Crescent, SW1 on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates' Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.
'He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible.
A police van sits outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police and taken into custody following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'
'The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.'
WikiLeaks tweeted: 'URGENT: Ecuador has illigally (sic) terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law.
'He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago.'
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, said in a statement on Assange: 'Ecuador is a generous country and a nation with open arms.
'Ours is a government respectful of the principles of international law, and of the institution of the right of asylum.
'Granting or withdrawing asylum is a sovereign right of the Ecuadorian state, according to international law.
'Today, I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behaviour of Mr Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declaration of its allied organisation, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.
'Ecuador sovereignly has decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr Assange in 2012.
'For six years and 10 months, the Ecuadorian people have protected the human rights of Mr Assange and have provided for his everyday needs at the facilities of our Embassy in London.
'When I became the President of Ecuador, I inherited this situation and decided to adopt a protocol to set the daily life rules at the Embassy, which is less than anyone may expect from a guest hosted at his own house.
'Ecuador has fulfilled its obligations in the framework of international law.
'On the other hand, Mr Assange violated, repeatedly, clear cut provisions of the conventions on diplomatic asylum of Havana and Caracas; despite the fact that he was requested on several occasions to respect and abide by these rules.'
British police are pictured arriving at the embassy moments before the WikiLeaks founder was dragged outside in handcuffs
Share or comment on this article: Wikileaks' Julian Assange arrested after Ecuadorian Embassy ejection
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 12:13
Get short URLhttps://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
In the tweet, Snowden said the images of a publisher of “award-winning journalism” being dragged out of the embassy would “end up in the history books."
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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11:35 AM - Apr 11, 2019
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“Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom,” he wrote.
View image on Twitter
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Important background for journalists covering the arrest of Julian #Assange by Ecuador: the United Nations formally ruled his detention to be arbitrary, a violation of human rights. They have repeatedly issued statements calling for him to walk free--including very recently.
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Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday morning, just days after WikiLeaks had said his removal from the building was imminent following a withdrawal of asylum from Quito.
The whistleblower, who has released hundreds of thousands of authentic documents and diplomatic cables, had been living in exile at the embassy for the last 6 years.
ALSO ON RT.COM
WATCH Julian Assange dragged out of Ecuadorian embassy shouting 'UK must resist'
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 09:38
Get short URL https://on.rt.com/9s0k
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017.
ReutersWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
https://www.rt.com/news/433783-wikileaks-assange-ecuador-uk/
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-chomsky-ali-673/
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
https://www.rt.com/news/assange-show-malaysia-democracy-221/
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Trump invites Putin to Washington this autumn - White House
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
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Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
US releases $200mn in military aid to Ukraine
Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, May 2017.
ReutersWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last six years. Ecuador's president has announced that the country has withdrawn asylum from Assange.
The eviction follows reports that the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing portal would be handed over to British authorities. Ecuador denied the reports and said it had no intention of stripping him of his protected status, but apparently another decision was made by Quito.
Assange's relationship with Ecuadorian officials appeared increasingly strained since the current president came to power in the Latin American country in 2017. His internet connection was cut off in March of last year, with officials saying the move was to stop Assange from "interfering in the affairs of other sovereign states."
READ MORE: Ecuador to hand over Assange to UK ‘in coming weeks or days,’ own sources tell RT's editor-in chief
The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.
The footage, as well as US war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 200,000 diplomatic cables, were leaked to the site by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning. She was tried by a US tribunal and sentenced to 35 years in jail for disclosing the materials.
Manning was pardoned by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2017 after spending seven years in US custody. She is currently being held again in a US jail for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in a case apparently related to WikiLeaks.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Chelsea Manning off to jail: Mainstream media would care if this was Russia
Assange's seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy was motivated by his concern that he may face similarly harsh and arguably unfair prosecution by the US for his role in publishing troves of classified US documents over the years.
His legal troubles stem from an accusation by two women in Sweden, with both claiming they had a sexual encounter with Assange that was not fully consensual. The whistleblower said the allegations were false. Nevertheless, they yielded to the Swedish authorities who sought his extradition from the UK on "suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual abuse and unlawful compulsion."
In December 2010, he was arrested in the UK under a European Arrest Warrant and spent time in Wandsworth Prison before being released on bail and put under house arrest.
During that time, Assange hosted a show on RT known as 'World Tomorrow or The Julian Assange Show', in which he interviewed several world influencers in controversial and thought-provoking episodes.
His attempt to fight extradition ultimately failed. In 2012, he skipped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy, which extended him protection from arrest by the British authorities. Quito gave him political asylum and later Ecuadorian citizenship.
Assange spent the following years stranded at the diplomatic compound, only making sporadic appearances at the embassy window and in interviews conducted inside. His health has reportedly deteriorated over the years, while treatment options are limited due to his inability to leave the Knightsbridge building.
In 2016, a UN expert panel ruled that what was happening to Assange amounted to arbitrary detention by the British authorities. London nevertheless refused to revoke his arrest warrant for skipping bail. Sweden dropped the investigation against Assange in 2017, although Swedish prosecutors indicated it may be resumed if Assange "makes himself available."
READ MORE: Assange Episode 10: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali
Assange argued that his avoidance of European law enforcement was necessary to protect him from extradition to the US, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting him is a "priority." WikiLeaks was branded a "non-state hostile intelligence service" by then-CIA head Mike Pompeo in 2017.
The US government has been tight-lipped on whether Assange would face indictment over the dissemination of classified material. In November 2018, the existence of a secret indictment targeting Assange was seemingly unintentionally confirmed in a US court filing for an unrelated case.
ALSO ON RT.COM
US ‘secretly charged’ Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals – WikiLeaks
Last year, a UK tribunal refused to release key details on communications between British and Swedish authorities that could have revealed any dealings between the UK, Sweden, the US, and Ecuador in the long-running Assange debacle. La Repubblica journalist Stefania Maurizi had her appeal to obtain documents held by the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed on December 12.
READ MORE: Assange Show Final Episode: Anwar Ibrahim - ‘the voice of democracy’ in Malaysia
WikiLeaks is responsible for publishing thousands of documents with sensitive information from many countries. Those include the 2003 Standard Operating Procedures manual for Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention center in Cuba. The agency has also released documents on Scientology, one tranche referred to as "secret bibles" from the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6911187/Wikileaks-founder-Julian-Assange-arrested-police.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is ARRESTED by British police at Ecuadorian Embassy in London after his asylum is withdrawn seven years after he was given refuge
Wikileaks founder dragged out of Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of police officers today
Comes as Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country in 2012
Ecuador said its decision came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'
President asked UK to guarantee he would not be extradited anywhere he could face torture or death penalty
The 47-year-old currently in custody and set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'
By ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:36, 11 April 2019 | UPDATED: 11:20, 11 April 2019
Julian Assange has been arrested by British police today after Ecuador withdrew his political asylum seven years after he was given refuge by the country.
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London.
He is currently in police custody and is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court 'as soon as possible'.
Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno said the decision to withdraw Assange's asylum status came after 'repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols'.
Moreno added that he had asked Britain to guarantee that Assange would not be extradited to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty.
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'.
Assange, 47, has not left Ecuador's diplomatic soil for seven years amid fears he would be arrested and extradited for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables.
Video playing bottom right...
Click here to expand to full page
Julian Assange pictured as he is led out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in handcuffs following his sensational arrest by British police today
The Wikileaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of Metropolian Police officers as stunned supporters and protesters watched on in central London
Julian Assange (pictured bottom left) as he is arrested by police after being ejected from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Assange is loaded into the back of a police van in central London before being taken away ahead of a court appearance in the near future
The news of his arrest was confirmed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Twitter, who said that 'no on was above the law'.
Writing to Twitter, he said: 'Nearly 7yrs after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK.
'I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation & for its professionalism. No one is above the law.'
His arrest comes a day after Wikileaks accused the Ecuadorean Government of an 'extensive spying operation' against Assange.
RELATED ARTICLES
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SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Share
WikiLeaks claims meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the embassy over the past year were secretly filmed.
Assange had refused to leave the embassy, claiming he would be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he did so.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Hans Crescent, SW1 on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates' Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.
'He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible.
A police van sits outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police and taken into custody following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange's political asylum 'in violation of international law'
'The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.'
WikiLeaks tweeted: 'URGENT: Ecuador has illigally (sic) terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law.
'He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago.'
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, said in a statement on Assange: 'Ecuador is a generous country and a nation with open arms.
'Ours is a government respectful of the principles of international law, and of the institution of the right of asylum.
'Granting or withdrawing asylum is a sovereign right of the Ecuadorian state, according to international law.
'Today, I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behaviour of Mr Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declaration of its allied organisation, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.
'Ecuador sovereignly has decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr Assange in 2012.
'For six years and 10 months, the Ecuadorian people have protected the human rights of Mr Assange and have provided for his everyday needs at the facilities of our Embassy in London.
'When I became the President of Ecuador, I inherited this situation and decided to adopt a protocol to set the daily life rules at the Embassy, which is less than anyone may expect from a guest hosted at his own house.
'Ecuador has fulfilled its obligations in the framework of international law.
'On the other hand, Mr Assange violated, repeatedly, clear cut provisions of the conventions on diplomatic asylum of Havana and Caracas; despite the fact that he was requested on several occasions to respect and abide by these rules.'
British police are pictured arriving at the embassy moments before the WikiLeaks founder was dragged outside in handcuffs
Share or comment on this article: Wikileaks' Julian Assange arrested after Ecuadorian Embassy ejection
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermidFellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Published time: 11 Apr, 2019 10:54
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2019 12:13
Get short URLhttps://on.rt.com/9s0t
‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest
Ruptly; REUTERS/Brendan McDermidFellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”
In the tweet, Snowden said the images of a publisher of “award-winning journalism” being dragged out of the embassy would “end up in the history books."
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.
Ruptly
@Ruptly
Replying to @Ruptly
BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video
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13K
11:35 AM - Apr 11, 2019
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“Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom,” he wrote.
View image on Twitter
Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Important background for journalists covering the arrest of Julian #Assange by Ecuador: the United Nations formally ruled his detention to be arbitrary, a violation of human rights. They have repeatedly issued statements calling for him to walk free--including very recently.
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11:22 AM - Apr 11, 2019
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Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday morning, just days after WikiLeaks had said his removal from the building was imminent following a withdrawal of asylum from Quito.
The whistleblower, who has released hundreds of thousands of authentic documents and diplomatic cables, had been living in exile at the embassy for the last 6 years.
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WATCH Julian Assange dragged out of Ecuadorian embassy shouting 'UK must resist'
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