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BRITAIN-ECUADOR-US-POLITICS-INTERNET-WIKILEAKS-ASSANGE
WikiLeaks claims ‘extortion’ over leaked Assange footage
LONDON, April 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – WikiLeaks on Wednesday claimed that it
was being blackmailed by “dubious characters” who had obtained security
camera footage of founder Julian Assange inside Ecuador’s embassy in London.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, accused Ecuador
authorities of gathering thousands of photographs and videos, which then
found their way into the hands of a group in Spain, who were demanding $3
million (2.7 million euros) not to publish them.
“We learned some individuals in Spain were passing around information,
that they had a massive trove of documents… from inside the embassy,” he
told reporters in London.
“I asked them what documents they had and I got an email back. He said
‘this material has a price’.”
The documents include thousands of photographs and gigabytes of video
footage showing Assange meeting with lawyers and visitors and of him
receiving a medical check-up.
“It’s not hard to see that as extortion,” said Hrafnsson, adding that the
Spanish police had opened an investigation.
“Of much greater concern is this material gathering and spying by the
Ecuadorian government,” he said, calling it “illegal and extremely
unethical”.
“Since (President Lenin) Moreno took power in Ecuador, Julian Assange has
been living in a Truman Show type situation,” he claimed.
The editor also accused embassy staff of photocopying a legal document
belonging to Assange’s lawyer Aitor Martinez.
WikiLeaks believes that the United States is working with Ecuador to
extradite Assange to face charges, and that the embassy documents were “quite
likely shared with the Trump administration”, although it offered no proof of
this.
The group, which rose to prominence by publishing leaked US intelligence
documents, said that “very reliable sources” had told them Ecuador was last
week preparing to kick Assange out of its London embassy, where he was
granted refuge by previous president Rafael Correa in 2012.
“The only reason why this was averted, in our opinion, is that we learned
about it,” said Hrafnsson.
Ecuador said on Tuesday it was reassessing Assange’s asylum claim,
revocation of which would lead to his arrest by the British authorities for
skipping bail.
The Australian sought refuge at Ecuador’s embassy seven years ago to avoid
extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that
prosecutors in Stockholm have since abandoned.
Assange has refused to leave the embassy to avoid extradition to the
United States to face charges over his website publishing huge caches of
hacked State Department and Pentagon files in 2010.
The 47-year-old Australian, who denies the rape claims, said he feared
Sweden would pass him on to US authorities if he was extradited.
The Swedish chief prosecutor dropped proceedings against him in 2017.
BSS/AFP/RY/1930 hrs