{"id":131307,"date":"2019-04-15T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T11:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=131307"},"modified":"2019-11-20T06:19:55","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T06:19:55","slug":"wikileaks-assange-arrested-in-london-accused-by-u-s-of-conspiring-in-2010-computer-hacking-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/04\/wikileaks-assange-arrested-in-london-accused-by-u-s-of-conspiring-in-2010-computer-hacking-attempt\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks\u2019 Assange Arrested in London, Accused by U.S. of Conspiring in 2010 Computer Hacking Attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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British police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange April 11 in London. Assange was living in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London since seeking asylum in 2012.\u00a0 (Allie Caren\/The Washington Post)<\/p><\/div>\n

11 April 2019 – <\/em>WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was expelled from the Ecuadoran Embassy here today and arrested on a U.S. hacking charge \u2014 maneuvers that initiated a potentially years-long legal battle over his extradition and reignited debates about press freedom.<\/p>\n

With Assange\u2019s arrest, U.S. and British authorities ended a seven-year saga in which the anti-secrecy crusader stayed just beyond their reach while his group dumped classified and politically volatile materials onto the Internet. U.S. prosecutors confirmed for the first time that they had secretly charged Assange last year with conspiring with an Army intelligence analyst to illegally obtain secret U.S. military and diplomatic documents, which Assange\u2019s group published online. He is accused of helping Chelsea Manning, the former soldier then known as Bradley Manning, perhaps unsuccessfully, try to crack a government password.<\/p>\n

It could be some time, though, before he answers to that charge in an American court. Analysts say Assange\u2019s extradition could take years, and only after he is in the United States can he begin what is expected to be a vigorous defense, arguing that he is like any newspaper publisher and that the charge against him is unjust.<\/p>\n

[Read the indictment unsealed against Julian Assange<\/a>]<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is possible, too, that U.S. prosecutors could seek to bring more charges. The indictment, <\/a>unsealed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, mentioned only the 2010 publishing of military and diplomatic documents. It alleged that Assange conspired with Manning to obtain those materials.<\/p>\n

The indictment made no reference to WikiLeaks\u2019 more recent publishing of secret CIA hacking tools or its release of Democrats\u2019 emails, which authorities have said were stolen by Russia to affect the 2016 presidential election. President Trump once celebrated the organization for publishing those emails.<\/p>\n

London\u2019s Metropolitan Police, who took Assange into custody after Ecuador rescinded his asylum, said that the 47-year-old was \u201carrested on behalf of the United States.\u201d British authorities originally sought custody of Assange for jumping bail after Sweden requested his extradition in a separate case stemming from sexual assault allegations. The U.S. indictment was unsealed hours after Assange\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

Video of the arrest showed a gray-bearded Assange\u00a0being hauled by British police officers down the embassy\u2019s steps and shoved into a\u00a0police van. He appeared to be resisting. His hands were secured in front of him, clutching a copy of Gore Vidal\u2019s \u201cHistory of the National Security State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of court in London, Jennifer Robinson, one of Assange\u2019s attorneys, said Assange will fight extradition to the United States. She called the action against him \u201ca dangerous precedent for all news media.\u201d Robinson said she was seeking medical care for Assange, whose health she said has suffered during his time in the Ecuadoran Embassy.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said Assange told her to thank his supporters and to say, \u201cI told you so,\u201d presumably a reference to Assange\u2019s long-held prediction that the United States would seek his arrest and extradition if he left the embassy. Robinson told The Washington Post that Assange met Thursday\u00a0morning with the Ecuadoran ambassador, who notified him that his asylum was being revoked. Then the Metropolitan Police were invited into the embassy, where they arrested him, she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Quick conviction<\/h2>\n

Assange was quickly found guilty of breaching his bail, an offense that carries a prison sentence of up to 12 months. He pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

Judge Michael Snow reprimanded Assange and said he demonstrated \u201cthe behavior of a narcissist.\u201d The court was told that Assange resisted arrest at the Ecuadoran Embassy, shouting, \u201cThis is unlawful!\u201d<\/p>\n

Assange is expected to be sentenced for the bail charge at a later date. He is due to appear again in Westminster Magistrates\u2019 Court via video link on May 2 regarding the extradition matter.<\/p>\n

Trump \u2014 who declared, \u201cWikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks!\u201d at an October 2016<\/a> rally in Pennsylvania \u2014 sought to dissociate himself with the group on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know nothing about WikiLeaks. It\u2019s not my thing. And I know there was something having to do with Julian Assange,\u201d he said. Attorney General William P. Barr will handle the matter, Trump said, adding: \u201cI know nothing really about it. It\u2019s not my deal in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. indictment, filed in federal court in March 2018 and unsealed Thursday, accuses Assange of agreeing to help Manning break a password to the Defense Department\u2019s computer network in 2010. That, prosecutors allege, would have allowed Manning to log in with another username. The indictment includes no evidence that the password-hacking effort succeeded.<\/p>\n

Even before the attempt to learn a password, Manning had given WikiLeaks\u00a0hundreds of thousands of classified records<\/a>, prosecutors allege. The material allegedly included four nearly complete databases, composed of 90,000 reports from the Afghanistan war, 400,000 reports from the Iraq War and 250,000 State Department cables.<\/p>\n

Manning was imprisoned for seven years for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, and was recently jailed again for refusing to testify before the grand jury. Her legal team demanded her release after Assange\u2019s arrest, saying in a statement that Manning\u2019s \u201congoing detention can no longer be seriously alleged to constitute an attempt to coerce her testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ecuador makes ‘sovereign decision’ to withdraw Assange’s asylum status<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/video\/world\/ecuador-makes-sovereign-decision-to-withdraw-assanges-asylum-status\/2019\/04\/11\/8c8575b9-f87d-4b0a-ace7-de9373e34ba0_video.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno announced April 11 that the country had made the decision to withdraw WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange\u2019s asylum status.<\/strong> (Presidency of Ecuador via Storyful)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ecuador,\u00a0which took in Assange<\/a> when he faced a Swedish rape investigation in 2012, said it was rescinding asylum because of his \u201cdiscourteous and aggressive behavior,\u201d and for violating its terms.<\/p>\n

The British government heralded the development. \u201cJulian Assange is no hero, and no one is above the law,\u201d said Jeremy Hunt, Britain\u2019s foreign secretary. \u201cHe has hidden from the truth for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunt said it was Assange who was \u201cholding the Ecuadoran Embassy hostage in a situation that was absolutely intolerable for them.\u201d The foreign secretary praised Ecuadoran President Len\u00edn Moreno for making \u201ca courageous decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sweden dropped its\u00a0sex crimes inquiry<\/a> in May 2017. Assange had always denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

Fearing extradition<\/h2>\n

More than anything, however, he fears extradition to the United States, which has been investigating him for alleged espionage, the publication of sensitive government documents and coordination with Russia.<\/p>\n

The Russian government accused Britain of \u201cstrangling freedom\u201d by taking custody of Assange.<\/p>\n

The Ecuadoran president specifically cited Assange\u2019s involvement in what he described as WikiLeaks\u2019 meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, and referred to the leaking of Vatican documents in January.<\/p>\n

WikiLeaks leveraged\u00a0the arrest\u00a0as a fundraising opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis man is a son, a father, a brother,\u201d the group said in a tweet, above a headshot of Assange. \u201cHe has won dozens of journalism awards. He\u2019s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 2010. Powerful actors, including CIA, are engaged in a sophisticated effort to dehumanise, delegitimize and imprison him.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Moscow, Edward Snowden, the fugitive American who once was a National Security Agency contractor, described Assange\u2019s arrest as a violation of press freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cImages of Ecuador\u2019s ambassador inviting the UK\u2019s secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of \u2014 like it or not \u2014 award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books,\u201d Snowden wrote on Twitter. \u201cAssange\u2019s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

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April 11, 2019 | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van after he was arrested by British police outside the Ecuadoran embassy in London. (Henry Nicholls\/Reuters)<\/p><\/div>\n

Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had a less charitable take on Assange.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever his intentions when he started WikiLeaks, what he\u2019s really become is a direct participant in Russian efforts to undermine the West and a dedicated accomplice in efforts to undermine American security,\u201d Warner said.\u00a0\u201cIt is my hope that the British courts will quickly transfer him to U.S. custody so he can finally get the justice he deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barry Pollack, Assange\u2019s U.S.-based attorney, said that although the indictment charges Assange with conspiracy to commit computer crimes, the factual allegations against him \u201cboil down to encouraging a source to provide him information and taking efforts to protect the identity of that source.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the U.S. election in 2016, WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of emails that had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign chairman, John Podesta, in hacks that U.S. intelligence officials concluded were orchestrated by the Russian government.<\/p>\n

When special counsel Robert S. Mueller III\u00a0indicted<\/a> 12 Russian military intelligence officers in July<\/a>, he charged that they \u201cdiscussed the release of the stolen documents and the timing of those releases\u201d with WikiLeaks \u2014 referred to as \u201cOrganization 1\u201d in the indictment \u2014 \u201cto heighten their impact on the 2016 presidential election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the former Trump aides indicted as a result of Mueller\u2019s investigation was\u00a0Roger Stone<\/a>, a longtime friend of the president who has been accused of lying, obstruction and witness tampering. Stone\u2019s indictment charged that he sought to gather information about hacked Democratic Party emails at the direction of an unidentified senior Trump campaign official. He has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

In the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. decided against pursuing prosecution of Assange out of concern that WikiLeaks\u2019 argument that it is a journalistic organization would raise thorny First Amendment issues and set an unwelcome precedent.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, however \u2014 eager to crack down on the unauthorized disclosure of government information \u2014 revisited the question<\/a> of prosecuting members of WikiLeaks early in the administration. A court filing error in November revealed that Assange had been\u00a0charged under seal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some federal prosecutors say a case can be made that WikiLeaks is not a journalistic organization. As if to lay the groundwork for such an argument, in April 2017, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, now secretary of state, characterized WikiLeaks as a \u201cnonstate hostile intelligence service\u201d and a threat to U.S. national security.<\/p>\n

Pompeo also noted then that the intelligence community\u2019s report concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election also found that Russia\u2019s primary propaganda outlet, RT, \u201chas actively collaborated with WikiLeaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assange\u2019s expulsion from Ecuador\u2019s embassy reflects a shift in the country\u2019s politics since it first extended refuge to him.<\/p>\n

Sebasti\u00e1n Hurtado, president of the political consulting firm Pr\u00f3fitas in Quito, Ecuador, said:\u00a0\u201cI think the president has never been comfortable with Assange in the embassy. And it\u2019s not like this is an important issue for most Ecuadorans. To be honest, we really don\u2019t care about Assange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another hint that Assange was wearing out his welcome came in March 2018, when Ecuador\u00a0cut off his Internet access<\/a>, saying he had breached an agreement not to interfere in the affairs of other states. The embassy did not specify what Assange had done, but the move came after he tweeted criticism of Britain\u2019s assessment that Russia was responsible for the poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in the city of Salisbury.<\/p>\n

Ecuador imposed tighter house rules last fall. Among the demands were that Assange pay for his medical and phone bills and clean up after his cat.<\/p>\n

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