Wikileaks alleges Ecuador spied on Assange
London [UK], Apr 10 (ANI): Wikileaks on Wednesday alleged that Ecuador has been spying on its founder Julian Assange, who has taken asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador here for almost seven years now.
ANI
Apr 10, 2019 23:46 IST
London [UK], Apr 10 (ANI): Wikileaks on Wednesday alleged that Ecuador has been spying on its founder Julian Assange, who has taken asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador here for almost seven years now.
The charges were made by the website's Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson during a presser here on April 10.
"Ecuador's government caught in massive espionage operation against Julian Assange which spied on his legal, medical visits, stole legal notes during the middle of a court hearing against them, secretly cooperated with US prosecutors, and tried to extort him for 3M Euro," Wikileaks claimed.
"We know that there was a request to hand over visitor's logs from the embassy and video recordings from within the security cameras in the embassy," Hrafnsson said, claiming that the information had been sought by the Trump administration in the United States, according to Sputnik.
The editor stressed that the alleged secret spying on Assange, if true, is a "clear violation of his right to privacy."
Wikileaks had previously claimed that Ecuador would be evicting Assange from its premises in London, exposing him to arrests upon ouster.
"The only reason why this was averted, in our opinion, is the fact that we learned about it and we were able to publish that information. That was the only reason why it was stopped - probably, temporarily," he added during the presser.
Hrafnsson claimed that ever since Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has taken office, the "pressure on Assange has escalated."
"But such a move (Assange's eviction) now seems likely...Since Lenin Moreno was elected president, the pressure on Assange has escalated. Ejecting him from the embassy would be a clear violation of his Ecuadorean citizenship and asylum rights," he said.
"It would put him at risk of extradition to the US, where he would very likely face charges that could see him jailed for 30 or more years. Assange published evidence of American war crimes," the editor stated, adding that Assange is a "hero, not a criminal."
At the time of seeking asylum from Ecuador in 2012, Assange was wanted by Swedish prosecutors for questioning regarding sexual assault allegations, which have been dismissed by the founder as politically motivated.
This came shortly after WikiLeaks released a large number of classified and sensitive documents about the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which provoked investigations in the United States against the Wikileaks founder. (ANI)
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