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#14998692
Julian Assange arrested at Ecuadorian embassy in London
WikiLeaks founder arrested for alleged breach of bail at London embassy where he took refuge for seven years

Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, after the South American country withdrew asylum from the WikiLeaks founder.

Assange had been granted refuge at the embassy while on bail in the UK over sexual assault allegations against him in Sweden.

Assange, 47, spent almost seven years inside the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. He was arrested on Thursday on a warrant issued by Westminster magistrates court on 29 June 2012 when he failed to surrender to the court.

The Metropolitan police said: “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.

“The MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] 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.”

Assange was shouting and gesticulating as he was carried out of the embassy in handcuffs by seven men and put into a waiting Met police van, video footage showed. He appeared to be carrying a book.

Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, said on Twitter: “In a sovereign decision, Ecuador withdrew the asylum status to Julian Assange after his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols.”

But WikiLeaks said Moreno had acted illegally in terminating Assange’s political asylum “in violation of international law”.

Timeline

June 2010 – October 2010
WikiLeaks releases about 470,000 classified military documents concerning American diplomacy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It later releases a further tranche of more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables.

November 2010
A Swedish prosecutor issues a European arrest warrant for Assange over sexual assault allegations involving two Swedish women. Assange denies the claims.

December 2010
He turns himself in to police in London and is placed in custody. He is later released on bail and calls the Swedish allegations a smear campaign.

February 2011
A British judge rules that Assange can be extradited to Sweden. Assange fears Sweden will hand him over to US authorities who could prosecute him.

June 2012
He takes refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He requests, and is later granted, political asylum.

February 2016
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says Assange has been 'arbitrarily detained' and should be able to claim compensation from Britain and Sweden. Britain and Sweden rebuff the non-binding ruling.

November 2016
Assange is questioned in a two-day interview over the allegations at the Ecuadorian embassy by Swedish authorities.

January 2017
WikiLeaks says Assange could travel to the United States to face investigation if his rights are 'guaranteed'. It comes after one of the site's main sources of leaked documents, Chelsea Manning, is given clemency.

March 2017
Nigel Farage is spotted visiting the Ecuadorian embassy.

May 2017
Swedish prosecutors say they have closed their seven-year sex assault investigation into Assange. British police say they would still arrest him if he leaves the embassy as he breached the terms of his bail in 2012.

January 2018
Britain refuses Ecuador's request to accord Assange diplomatic status, which would allow him to leave the embassy without being arrested.

February 2018
He loses a bid to have his British arrest warrant cancelled on health grounds.

March 2018
Ecuador cuts off Assange's internet access alleging he broke an agreement on interfering in other countries' affairs.

November 2018
US prosecutors inadvertently disclose the existence of a sealed indictment against Assange.

2 April 2019
Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno says Assange has 'repeatedly violated' the conditions of his asylum at the embassy.

11 April 2019
Police arrest Assange at the embassy after his asylum was withdrawn.



The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, tweeted: “Julian Assange is no hero and no one is above the law. He has hidden from the truth for years. Thank you Ecuador and President Lenín Moreno for your cooperation with the Foreign Office to ensure Assange faces justice.”

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, added: “Nearly seven years after entering the Ecuadorian 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 the Metropolitan police for its professionalism. No one is above the law.”

Assange’s arrest comes a day after WikiLeaks accused the Ecuadorian government of an “extensive spying operation” against him.

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.

Assange claimed that if he was extradited to Sweden he might be arrested by the US and face charges relating to the publication of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.

The journalist and Assange supporter John Pilger called last week for people to “fill the street outside the embassy and protect him and show solidarity with a courageous man”.

US authorities have never officially confirmed that they have charged Assange, but in November 2018 a mistake in a document filed in an unrelated case hinted that criminal charges might have been prepared in secret.

The court filing, submitted apparently in error by US prosecutors, mentioned criminal charges against someone named “Assange” even though that was not the name of the defendant. Legal analysts said the error was likely to have been caused by prosecutors copying and pasting from sealed documents.

The relationship between Assange and his hosts at the embassy has soured over the years. In March 2018, Assange’s internet access was cut off and he was forbidden from having visitors.

The Ecuadorian president had said Assange had “repeatedly violated” the conditions of his asylum in his country’s London embassy.


https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-arrested-at-the-ecuadorean-embassy-live-updates

What do people think about this and what are the implications, if any on press freedom?
#14998701
Why now? The Ecuadorians have accused him of spying or something. What a weird situation.
#14998711
Beren wrote:That's the real question indeed. Why and why now?

Assange posted corruption information about Ecuador Recently where Ecuadorian head of state was involved. So they annulled his stay In the embassy.
#14998716
Atlantis wrote:The Empire strikes again. There is no escaping its fangs even in the furthest reaches of the planet. Nobody is safe! Who's next? I hope Snowden doesn't get thrown under a bus.


I hope Sweden will crash and burn
Actually I dont need to hope because it will happen anyway :muha1:
#14998718
Zionist Nationalist wrote:I hope Sweden will crash and burn
Actually I dont need to hope because it will happen anyway :muha1:


Mental projection? Just because you guys (and galls) are in a constant state of terror doesn't mean that peaceful, egalitarian, prosperous, admired Scandinavian nations have to follow you on your path to hell.

Anyways, I was talking about "Snowden" not "Sweden", but I guess that's all the same to the internet generation. :lol:
#14998720
The better question is how did the UK magistrate court already find Assange guilty in 1 day? As i understand from the information. :excited:

Isn't that a bit too fast especially considering that his case is high profile and has many chapters?
#14998726
ness31 wrote:Why now?


Robert Muller concluded his investigation. So, even if Assange is extradited to the US, he won't be interrogated by Muller.

The UK has already announced that Assange can be extradited to the US as long as he doesn't face the death penalty. Whether or not he can expect a fair trail in the US doesn't seem to bother the UK government.
#14998729
Atlantis wrote:Mental projection? Just because you guys (and galls) are in a constant state of terror doesn't mean that peaceful, egalitarian, prosperous, admired Scandinavian nations have to follow you on your path to hell.


They are leading themselves to hell we dont need to do that for them

The Swedish government are traitors to their people and history will judge them

Apparently the first swedes were black with blue eyes :lol:
Image
#14998731
Beren wrote:Thanks for your answer. :up:

US justice department says Assange faces five years in jail

I thought it would be more. So he's spent seven years in the embassy to avoid five years in jail?


I don't know if all of the charges against Assange are fake but considering the rape charge was removed, there are only charges regarding releasing classified information that remain.

And those ones are absolutely dishonest. He wasn't the only one that released that information. Spiegel, Guardian, BBC and almost every other major news outlet covered them. So jailing Assange for that is stupid. Why is The Guardian not being prosecuted for co-conspiring with Assange and Snowden under the same pretence?
#14998738
Beren wrote:I thought it would be more. So he's spent seven years in the embassy to avoid five years in jail?


It's Trump in power, not Hilary Clinton. If it was under Clinton he would be fucked. He knew that, it's probably the main reason he stayed in there even after the 2016 election was over.
#14998742
layman wrote:Does he ever release corruption information on his buddy putin?

The guy is a force for bad in the world anyway.


He did release the Panama papers. So yes, he does.

How is this bad? This is old school journalism. I know it is mostly dead nowadays but back in the day the journalists didn't care for political connections and released anything they could get their hands on. That is how journalism is supposed to work.
#14998754
JohnRawls wrote:The better question is how did the UK magistrate court already find Assange guilty in 1 day? As i understand from the information. :excited:

Isn't that a bit too fast especially considering that his case is high profile and has many chapters?

He's been found guilty of breaking his bail conditions. That's a fairly obvious conclusion, despite Assange pleading not guilty.

What doesn't seem to have been mentioned in this thread yet is the actual US charge - not publishing, but:

The indictment alleges that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet), a U.S. government network used for classified documents and communications. Manning, who had access to the computers in connection with her duties as an intelligence analyst, was using the computers to download classified records to transmit to WikiLeaks. Cracking the password would have allowed Manning to log on to the computers under a username that did not belong to her. Such a deceptive measure would have made it more difficult for investigators to determine the source of the illegal disclosures.

During the conspiracy, Manning and Assange engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning’s transmission of classified records to Assange. The discussions also reflect Assange actively encouraging Manning to provide more information. During an exchange, Manning told Assange that “after this upload, that’s all I really have got left.” To which Assange replied, “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”

Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wi ... conspiracy
#14998758
Beren wrote:That's the real question indeed. Why and why now?


Ecuador wants Trump out because of how he is handling the border issue and foreign aid; hence, killing wikileaks is important to prevent his reelection. After all, without Wikileaks, he may not have won in 2016.

Just a theory. :D
#14998761
Victoribus Spolia wrote:Ecuador wants Trump out because of how he is handling the border issue and foreign aid; hence, killing wikileaks is important to prevent his reelection. After all, without Wikileaks, he may not have won in 2016.

Just a theory. :D

But WikiLeaks won't cease to exist just because Assange goes to jail. ;)
#14998763
Beren wrote:But WikiLeaks won't cease to exist just because Assange goes to jail


Yeah, but we both know its going to lose some of its reputation, credibility, and power. Especially if Assange is extradited and prosecuted in Sweden (which will likely happen if my political instincts are correct, which they usually are).
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