Assange is an Australian computer programmer who created the website WikiLeaks back in 2006, with the intent of publishing classified information and news leaks.
WikiLeaks received international attention in early 2010 after it published a series of leaks that included:
Following the leaks, the US government launched a criminal investigation. Later that year, Sweden issued an international warrant for Assange's arrest for sexual assault and rape.
Assange denied the allegations and said that if he went back to Sweden, they would hand his ass over to the United States.
A month after the warrant was issued, he was arrested in London, but released on bail.
Then, in 2012, the United Kingdom ruled that Assange could be extradited to Sweden, to face the allegations in court.
Shortly after that announcement, Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador and went to live in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
And, because Embassies are considered sovereign parts of the countries they represent, they are given immunity from the laws of the countries that they're based in.
So, as long as Assange didn't leave the Ecuadorian Embassy's property, he couldn't be arrested. That is, of course, under the condition that the Ecuadorian government continue to give him asylum. Which, on that note, according to some reports, as the years went on, some thought that Assange was starting to overstay his welcome.
For example, back in 2018, the Ecuadorian Embassy laid out a set of house rules for Assange—if he wanted to keep his asylum. This included things like not engaging in political comments online. They also reportedly told him (and I'm not making this up) he had to quote 'clean his bathroom and take better care of his cat, or risk losing his pet.'
Assange then responded by firing a lawsuit against Ecuador for quote 'violating his fundamental rights and freedoms.'
His lawyer also made this affirmation:
But, it turns out that biting the hand that gives you asylum might have been a bad idea, because on Thursday, April 11, 2019, Ecuador's president, Lenin Moreno, announced in a video posted on Twitter, that he was revoking Assange's asylum.
In that video, Moreno said that Assange repeatedly violated the provisions of his asylum by meddling in internal affairs of other countries—this despite being asked multiple times to play by the rules.
Following that announcement, the British Metropolitan Police (BMP) were invited to the Embassy where they finally arrested Julian Assange.
With the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) saying in a press release that Assange was arrested on a warrant from 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.
Then Assange was sent to the Westminster Magistrates' Court and there he was found guilty of failing to surrender to the court back in 2012.
That charge is really the least of his worries, if you ask me. The police are issuing an updated statement that said he had been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities on an extradition warrant.
Interestingly, a few hours after his arrest, a US federal court unsealed an indictment from 2017, charging Assange with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
And according to a statement from the US Department of Justice:
The statement went on to refer to the leak as…
…and adding that Assange will face:
Now, of note, the indictment doesn't actually include evidence that Assange and Manning were successful in cracking the password, but, according to the indictment, before the password cracking, Manning gave Assange hundreds of thousands of classified records.
And those materials reportedly included 90,000 reports from the Afghanistan war, 400,000 reports from the Iraq war and 250,000 State Department cables.
Which is why, back in 2010, Manning was charged with violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses for giving those materials to WikiLeaks and was sent to prison for seven good years.
But, regarding that, the fact that Assange wasn't given an Espionage charge is pretty significant—which will likely come as a relief for his staunchest supporters and the press freedom advocates.
Consequently, a lot of people have come out in support of Assange and criticizing his arrest. Most notably, Edward Snowden.
Edward Snowden, of course, the former CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) employee who leaked classified information from the NSA (National Security Agency), tweeted this:
Ben Wizner, Director of the ACLU’s (American Civil Liberties Union) Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, gave a statement saying that if the US decided to prosecute Assange, it would be quote…
…and adding…
…and I saw WikiLeaks themselves tweet:
WikiLeaks also went on to say:
At the same time, you have some applauding the arrest.
For example, you have UK Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, taking to Twitter to say:
Even Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, also had this to say:
Additionally, US Senator, Ben Sasse, tweeted this:
Looking at the situation, it appears Assange's legal problems are just beginning. And based off of what's happening, it seems more than likely that he is going to be extradited to the United States. Can't wait to see what comes out of all of this. God, I smell torture already. Waterboarding, anyone?
Just to mention a few things other than the conspiracy charge, although the sexual assault and rape charges in Sweden were dropped back in 2017, according to NPR (National Public Radio), the lawyer representing the woman who had accused Assange, told them that she and her client would do everything they can to get the Swedish police to reopen the investigation.
And, of course, it's worth mentioning that Assange is one of the many people involved with the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US elections.
WikiLeaks was responsible for leaking DNC (Democratic National Committee) documents as well as emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, during the campaign.
An investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III alleges that WikiLeaks worked with Russian officials to do so.
There's also a serious allegation that former Trump strategist, Roger Stone, who was indicted on Mueller's probe, spoke directly with Assange on the phone about the leaks—further implying that Stone relayed that information to Donald Trump.
Regardless, Stone and Assange deny that they ever had a phone conversation about this.
Still and all, it is pretty important to note that as of right now, Assange is not facing charges pertaining to 2016. A lot of things could change, though, and charges could be added. Time will tell, eventually.
Before I forget, on the note of Trump, Trump spoke in a press briefing about Assange's arrest. It might interest you to know that in the past, Trump had praised WikiLeaks—specifically after they released Podesta's emails. It was also reported that he had mentioned WikiLeaks one hundred and sixty four times; just in the month leading up to the election.
Fast-forward to Assange's arrest, when a reporter asked him if he still liked WikiLeaks, he responded in typical Trump fashion: “Err, I know nothing about WikiLeaks—it's not my thing.”
Yeah, so that is where I am as of typing this blogpost. Keep in mind that this is still a developing situation. It's most certainly going to be really interesting and quite honestly, historic, to see what happens from here.
With that said, I am very very interested in what your thoughts are around this. Are you happy he's arrested? No? You think this is incredibly concerning? Why? Why not? Any and all thoughts, lemme know in those comments down below.
And while you're down there, don't forget to hit that share button.
Conclusively, if you wanna see the full versions of everything I just talked about on this topic, here are the links:
No comments:
Post a Comment