Julian Assange arrested

[Sparko]

Julian Assange arrested at Ecuadorian embassy in London

WikiLeaks founder taken into custody on US extradition warrant and for failing to surrender to bail

Police have forcibly removed the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and arrested him, as the Ecuadorian government withdrew asylum.

Assange, 47, was taken into police custody for failing to surrender to bail and on a US extradition warrant, after Metropolitan police officers were invited into the Knightsbridge embassy. He had taken refuge there for almost seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation.

He was being held on a warrant issued by Westminster magistrates court on 29 June 2012 when he failed to surrender to the court.

Footage showed Assange, now heavily bearded, shouting and gesticulating and being carried out in handcuffs by plainclothes officer and put in a police van shortly after 10am.

Assange had refused to leave the embassy, claiming he would be extradited to the US for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.

Scotland Yard 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.
...
An arrest warrant was issued for Assange in 2010 for two separate allegations – one of rape and one of molestation – after he visited Sweden for a speaking trip. He launched a legal battle against extradition to Sweden but when that failed entered the embassy in Hans Crescent and requested political asylum.

Elisabeth Massi Fritz, a lawyer for one of the two women who accused Assange, welcomed the arrest. “My client and I have just received the news that Assange has been arrested. That is what we have been waiting and hoping for for almost seven years and now [it has] happened [it] is clearly a shock to my client. We will do everything we can to ensure that the prosectors resume the Swedish preliminary investigation so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape.”

Assange’s arrest comes one day after WikiLeaks accused the Ecuadorian government of an “extensive spying operation” against him, during which they claimed meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the embassy over the past year were secretly filmed.

The arrest was welcomed by the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who 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 Lenin Moreno for your cooperation with the Foreign Office to ensure Assange faces justice.”

Though the Ecuadorian government was sympathetic at the time Assange sought refuge, regime change in 2017 has seen a toughening of its stance.

Hunt said Moreno “took a courageous decision which has meant we’ve been able to resolve the situation today”.

“We’re not making any judgment about Julian Assange’s innocence or guilt – that is for the courts to decide – but what is not acceptable is for someone to escape facing justice and he’s been trying to do that for a very long time.”

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, tweeted: “Nearly 7yrs after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK.” He added “No-one is above the law.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...assy-wikileaks


Further info and background:

Ecuador accuses Julian Assange of violating asylum deal in London embassy

Ecuador president: Enough guarantees for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave embassy, return to UK

[firstfloor]

It will be interesting to see if the Yanks want him and what he does, if anything, to stay in the UK or go to Ecuador where he has citizenship. Sweden is no longer interested, having run out of time.

[Sparko]

It will be interesting to see if the Yanks want him and what he does, if anything, to stay in the UK or go to Ecuador where he has citizenship. Sweden is no longer interested, having run out of time.

He can't "go" anywhere. He is under arrest. And Ecuador just kicked him out. Sweden, from what I understand just removed the charges for the time being. They can be reinstated at any time. And I am sure the USA would love to have a shot at him for espionage too. But they might not get a chance since Ecuador made the deal that he could not be sent to any country where the death penalty was on the table.

[mossrose]

He can't "go" anywhere. He is under arrest. And Ecuador just kicked him out. Sweden, from what I understand just removed the charges for the time being. They can be reinstated at any time. And I am sure the USA would love to have a shot at him for espionage too. But they might not get a chance since Ecuador made the deal that he could not be sent to any country where the death penalty was on the table.

Has he done anything to warrant the death penalty? If not, why would Ecuador be concerned?

[tabibito]

He accused Ecuador of spying on him while he was depending on them for his safety?

What was he thinking? If it could even be called that?

[Sparko]

Has he done anything to warrant the death penalty? If not, why would Ecuador be concerned?

I am not sure.

[Mountain Man]

Has he done anything to warrant the death penalty? If not, why would Ecuador be concerned?

The death penalty for spying does exist in US law, so it's possible but unlikely to apply to Assange's case. However, his lawyers apparently used that mere possibility as an excuse to never have him extradited to the US.

[tabibito]

The death penalty for spying does exist in US law, so it's possible but unlikely to apply to Assange's case. However, his lawyers apparently used that mere possibility as an excuse to never have him extradited to the US.

Australia could be expected to follow the same path. The existence of the death penalty for the applicable type of crime is enough to scotch extradition - there's one bloke (at least) now who can't be extradited and is refused entry to Australia who is sort of languishing in gaol because he has nowhere to go.

[mossrose]

The death penalty for spying does exist in US law, so it's possible but unlikely to apply to Assange's case. However, his lawyers apparently used that mere possibility as an excuse to never have him extradited to the US.

Yeah, I didn't think I had heard anything recently about any spy being executed. Sort of an empty threat.

[Bill the Cat]

He looked like Manson...

[Sparko]

He looked like Manson...

yeah he really looked haggard. I thought he looked like Saddam Hussein when they dragged him out. With the homeless man beard and all.





The Justice dept released this:

WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – 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 computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.

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 United States.

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.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the charges were unsealed. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kellen S. Dwyer, Thomas W. Traxler and Gordon D. Kromberg, and Trial Attorneys Matthew R. Walczewski and Nicholas O. Hunter of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case.

The extradition will be handled by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-111.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr...ing-conspiracy

[seer]

I wonder if England will actually send him back to the US for trial...

[tabibito]

That begins to look like a plea bargain

[Mountain Man]

yeah he really looked haggard. I thought he looked like Saddam Hussein when they dragged him out. With the homeless man beard and all.

I understand he rarely if ever went outside during his time in the embassy. That's not a healthy way to live.

[Sparko]

I understand he rarely if ever went outside during his time in the embassy. That's not a healthy way to live.

That is what I was thinking. The Justice Dept News release mentioned 5 years max. Heck he would have been better off just doing the 5 years and being a free man rather than living like a hermit holed up in an embassy all these years.