Origem: Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre.

Julian Paul Assange (Townsville, 3 de julho de 1971) um jornalista, escritor[1] e ciberativista australiano. um dos nove membros do conselho consultivo do WikiLeaks, um wiki de denncias e vazamento de informaes. tambm o principal porta-voz do website.

Assange estudou matemtica e fsica, foi programador e hacker, antes de se tornar porta-voz e editor-chefe do WikiLeaks. Fundou o WikiLeaks em 2006 e faz parte do seu conselho consultivo. Politicamente, Assange se define como libertrio, afirmando que "Eu sou um grande f de Ron Paul. () A famlia Paul so os mais fortes apoiadores da luta contra o ataque dos EUA ao WikiLeaks e a mim. () A nica esperana atualmente na poltica so os libertrios."[2]

Ganhou seu primeiro computador aos 16 anos e logo descobriu habilidade para invadir sistemas. S na Austrlia, enfrentou 30 acusaes de pirataria, mas pagou multa pelos danos causados e se livrou da priso.[3]

Por seu trabalho no Wikileaks ganhou outros prmios, como o Sam Adams Award e o Index on Censorship do The Economist em 2008, alm de ter sido considerado o "homem do ano" pelo jornal francs Le Monde em 2010. Neste ano, aps o vazamento da vasta massa de documentos sobre possveis crimes de guerra cometidos na Guerra do Afeganisto e na Guerra do Iraque pelo Exrcito dos Estados Unidos, sua fama cresceu. Em 2011 foi includo na lista da revista Time como um dos 100 mais influentes do planeta.

Em 30 de novembro, foi acusado de estupro e abuso sexual na Sucia e a Interpol o colocou em sua lista de procurados.

No dia 7 de dezembro, em Londres, Assange apresentou-se Polcia Metropolitana e negou a veracidade das acusaes contra ele, sendo liberado nove dias depois.[4] Em 31 de maio de 2012, a corte suprema do Reino Unido anunciou sua deciso a favor da extradio de Julian Assange para a Sucia.[5]

Assange perdeu a cidadania sueca e temia que, to logo chegasse Sucia, seria extraditado para os Estados Unidos e processado por espionagem, fraude e abuso de computadores. A Sucia tem um amplo acordo de extradio com os EUA.[6][7] O fundador do WikiLeaks j havia admitido a possibilidade de vir a ser assassinado numa priso norte-americana, na hiptese de ser extraditado para os Estados Unidos.[8] Por isso, o chanceler do Equador, Ricardo Patio, disse, em entrevista BBC, que seu governo pediu Sucia "que garantisse que Assange no seria extraditado para os Estados Unidos". Segundo ele, "h declaraes de autoridades dos EUA (...) que mostram que ele (Assange) deve ser considerado como um inimigo no armado, como um objeto a destruir. evidente em uma grande lista de casos concretos que o objetivo levar Assange e conden-lo."[9]

No caso de extradio para os EUA, Assange enfrentar pelo menos a priso perptua, dizem especialistas, lembrando a histria do suposto informante do WikiLeaks, o soldado Bradley Manning.[10] Manning, que est preso na base naval de Quantico, foi mantido nu, em isolamento, impedido de dormir, sob iluminao direta e vigilncia de cmeras 24 horas por dia. Trata-se do que a CIA chama de "tortura sem contato" (no-touch torture)[11]

Apesar de ter sido permanentemente monitorado[nota 1] , no dia 19 de junho de 2012, Assange conseguiu entrar na embaixada do Equador em Londres, onde pediu (e obteve) asilo poltico.[12] O governo do Reino Unido ameaou, por carta, invadir a embaixada, nos seguintes termos: " preciso adverti-los de que h base legal, no Reino Unido a Lei sobre Instalaes Diplomticas e Consulares, de 1987 (Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act) autorizando-nos a agir para prender o Sr. Assange, nas instalaes da embaixada. Esperamos sinceramente no chegar a tal ponto, mas se vocs no foram capazes de resolver o assunto da presena do Sr. Assange em suas instalaes, h uma opo aberta para ns".[13] O governo britnico tambm afirmou que no daria salvo-conduto ao australiano para sair da embaixada,[14] o que pode eternizar a sua permanncia no prdio - considerado territrio equatoriano, segundo a lei internacional.[15][16] Representantes do governo equatoriano informaram que pretendiam apelar para a Corte Penal Internacional, se o Reino Unido no permitisse que Julian Assange deixasse livremente o pas.[17]

Nasceu em Townsville, e passou grande parte de sua juventude vivendo em Magnetic Island.[18]

Seus pais trabalhavam numa companhia de teatro itinerante. Em 1979, sua me, Christine,[19] casou; seu marido era msico e fazia parte do grupo New Age conduzido por Anne Hamilton-Byrne. O casal teve um filho, mas se separou em 1982 e travou uma disputa pela custdia do meio irmo de Assange. Sua me, ento, levou os dois filhos para esconderijos pelos cinco anos seguintes. Assange mudou vrias vezes de lugar durante sua infncia, frequentando vrias escolas diferentes, s vezes estudando em casa, e depois frequentando diversas universidades da Austrlia.[20]

Em 1987, aps completar 16 anos, Assange comeou a "hackear" sob o nome "Mendax" (derivado de uma frase em latim, atribuda a Horcio: splendide mendax,[21] que significa "esplndido mentiroso").[22] Ele e mais dois outros hackers se uniram para formar um grupo chamado International Subversives ("Subversivos Internacionais"). Assange relembra as regras da subcultura: "No danificar os sistemas de computador que voc acessar (incluindo cometer falhas neles); no alterar as informaes contidas nesses sistemas (exceto para alterar registros a fim de cobrir seus traos de acesso), e compartilhar informaes."[22]

Em 1991 a Polcia Federal Australiana invadiu sua casa em Melbourne, e ele foi acusado de ter acessado os computadores de uma universidade australiana, da Nortel canadense e de outras organizaes, via modem.[22] Em 1992, ele se declarou culpado de 24 acusaes de hacking e foi libertado sob fiana por bom comportamento, depois de ser multado em AU$2100.[22]

Em uma entrevista Forbes, Assange comentou: " um pouco chato, na verdade. Porque eu escrevi um livro sobre isso [ser hacker], existem documentrios sobre isso, as pessoas falam muito sobre isso. Elas podem cortar e colar. Mas isso foi h 20 anos. muito irritante ver artigos modernos me chamando de hacker de computador. Eu no me envergonho disso, estou muito orgulhoso disso. Mas eu entendo a razo pela qual sugerem que eu sou um hacker de computador agora. H uma razo muito especfica."[23]

No final de 2012, o fundador do site WikiLeaks, ainda, refugiado na embaixada do Equador em Londres, anunciou que em maro de 2013, publicaria um livro intitulado "Manual da Rebelio: como somos vigiados pela Internet".[24] O livro, do qual so co-autores Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Mller-Maguhn e Jrmie Zimmermann, acabou ficando pronto mais cedo e ganhou um outro ttulo: Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet (no Brasil, Cypherpunks - Liberdade e o futuro da Internet, Boitempo Editorial).[25] Nele so discutidas questes como a possvel transformao da Internet em mero instrumento de controle, a servio do poder poltico e econmico. "A Internet, nossa maior ferramenta de emancipao, est sendo transformada no mais perigoso facilitador de totalitarismo que j vimos," diz o texto.[26][27] Assange prev uma futura onda de represso na esfera on-line que pode transformar a internet em uma ameaa aos direitos fundamentais da pessoa. O cerco ao WikiLeaks e a ativistas da Internet, as tentativas de introduzir uma legislao contra o compartilhamento de arquivos, como o Sopa) e o Acta indicariam essa tendncia a permitir que "governos e grandes empresas descubram cada vez mais sobre os usurios da Internet e escondam as prprias atividades, sem precisar prestar contas de seus atos."[28] Segundo ele, "hoje, o Google sabe mais sobre voc que sua me. Esse o maior roubo da histria".[29] .

Em 1989 Assange passou a viver com sua namorada, com quem teve um filho, Daniel Assange.[30] Mas, aps a invaso da casa pela polcia, em 1991, ela partiu, levando consigo o filho do casal.[31] Todo o processo levou Assange e sua me a fundarem o Parent Inquiry into Child Protection ("Investigao Paterna para Proteo Criana"), um grupo ativista centrado na criao de um "banco de dados central" para informaes sobre processos de custdia de crianas na Austrlia - informaes que, de outra forma, seriam inacessveis.[31]

Em 2006, fundou o WikiLeaks. Esteve envolvido nas publicaes de documentos sobre execues extrajudiciais no Qunia, e isso lhe garantiu o prmio Amnesty International Media Award de 2009. Tambm publicou documentos sobre resduos txicos na frica, tratamento dado aos prisioneiros da Priso de Guantnamo e outros.[32] .

Em 2010, o WikiLeaks publicou detalhes sobre o envolvimento dos Estados Unidos nas guerras do Afeganisto e Iraque. Em 28 de novembro do mesmo ano, WikiLeaks e seus cinco parceiros de mdia, El Pas, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, The Guardian e The New York Times, comearam a publicar os telegramas secretos da diplomacia dos EUA.[33]

Em maro de 2011, os estdios DreamWorks (de Steven Spielberg) compraram os direitos do livro WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy (no Brasil, publicado como WikiLeaks - A guerra de Julian Assange contra os segredos de estado), dos jornalistas David Leigh e Luke Harding, do jornal britnico The Guardian.[34] O filme americano de 2013 The Fifth Estate (no Brasil, O Quinto Poder[35] ) foi baseado nos livros Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website, escrito por um ex-porta-voz do site, e no referido WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, e conta, numa tica pessoal, a historia no site WikiLeaks.

Em 2012 Julian Assange apresentou um programa de entrevistas entitulado O mundo Amanh, entrevistando entrevistas com vrias personalidades importantes e muitas vezes controversas dos mundos intelectual e poltico, incluindo Rafael Correa, Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, Moazzam Begg e outros.[36] , apresentado na Russia Today e noticiado em 14 de abril de 2012, antes do lanamento, pela CNN.[36]

Assange ganhou o Amnesty International UK Media Awards de 2009, por ter exposto os assassinatos extrajudiciais no Qunia.[37] Ao receber o prmio, declarou: " um reflexo da coragem e da fora da sociedade civil queniana que esta injustia tenha sido documentada. Atravs do trabalho enorme de organizaes como a Fundao Oscar, o KNHCR, Mars Group Kenya e outros, tivemos o apoio fundamental de que precisvamos para expor estes assassinatos para o mundo."

Assange tambm ganhou o Index on Censorship do Economist de 2008.[38]

Em 2010, ganhou o Sam Adams Award, prmio concedido queles que aliam tica e inteligncia a agncias inteligentes.[39][40]

Em setembro de 2010, Assange foi votado como uma das 50 figuras mais influentes de 2010 pela New Statesman, ficando em 23 lugar.[41]

Alm disso, algumas comunidades da Internet promoveram a indicao de Julian Assange para o Prmio Nobel da Paz 2011, pela fundao do WikiLeaks.[42]

Em agosto de 2010, um ms depois da divulgao, pelo WikiLeaks, de documentos secretos do Exrcito americano sobre a Guerra do Afeganisto, a Justia da Sucia expediu dois mandados de priso contra Assange, um deles por estupro e o outro, por agresso sexual. Assange estava ento na Sucia para uma srie de palestras, depois que o Partido Pirata local aceitou acolher vrios servidores do Wikileaks, diante da perseguio das autoridades dos Estados Unidos. Enquanto a Polcia sueca procurava Assange, surgiam, na Internet, denncias sobre uma possvel conspirao contra ele.[43] A mulher no centro da alegao, disse polcia que fez sexo consensual com Assange, mas acordou na manh seguinte e percebeu que ele estava fazendo sexo com ela outra vez, sem o seu consentimento e sem o uso de preservativo.[44] Pouco depois, a Justia sueca anunciou a retirada da ordem de priso.[45]

O porta-voz do Pentgono, Bryan Whitman, declarou que qualquer insinuao sobre uma eventual conspirao do Departamento de Defesa dos Estados Unidos contra Assange "absurda".[46]

Em 1 de setembro a justia da Sucia reabriu o processo de estupro e agresso sexual contra Assange. No dia 20 de novembro, as autoridades suecas pediram Interpol que ele fosse capturado, com fins de extradio.[47] .

Em 28 de novembro o WikiLeaks voltou carga, divulgando mais de 250 mil documentos diplomticos confidenciais do Departamento de Estado dos Estados Unidos. Os documentos revelam, por exemplo, como o governo dos EUA, mais precisamente Hillary Clinton,[carecede fontes] deu instrues a seus diplomatas para que atuassem como espies e recolhessem informaes sobre lderes polticos e nas Naes Unidas, inclusive dados biomtricos e carto de crdito do secretrio geral da ONU, Ban Ki-moon.[carecede fontes] Como sempre, as informaes foram repassadas a cinco grandes jornais do mundo, dentre os quais, The New York Times, Le Monde e The Guardian.

Dois dias depois, em 30 de novembro, a Interpol distribuiu em 188 pases, uma notificao vermelha, isto , um chamado queles que souberem do paradeiro de Assange, para que entrem em contato com a polcia. O advogado de Assange, Mark Stephens, declarou ser "muito incomum" que se emita uma notificao vermelha em casos semelhantes ao do seu cliente. Stephens observou tambm que o promotor sueco pediu que Assange seja detido sem acesso a advogados, a visitantes ou a outros presos.[48]

No mesmo dia, Spiegel Online noticiou que um grupo de antigos companheiros de Assange, que discorda da sua orientao e do seu estilo supostamente autocrtico, teria planos de lanar outra organizao, semelhante WikiLeaks, ainda em dezembro.[49] .

Em 7 de dezembro de 2010, s 9h30 no horrio local, Julian Assange apresentou-se Polcia Metropolitana, em Londres. Ele negou a acusao de crimes sexuais contra duas mulheres na Sucia. At ento no havia indiciamento.[4][50] O fundador da organizao esteve no presdio de Wandsworth at o dia 16 de dezembro e esperou em liberdade condicional por uma nova audincia de extradio.[51][52][53]

A acusao da Justia sueca contra Julian Assange a de que, durante uma sesso de sexo consensual, seu preservativo se rompeu, tendo sido retirado o que na Sucia equivalente a estupro (pena de dois anos de priso). Uma das denunciantes, Anna Ardin (a outra Sofia Wilen)[54] , alega que Assange rompeu a camisinha de propsito.[55] Ardin cubana, anticastrista, e consta que trabalhou para ONGs financiadas pela CIA.[56][57][58]

Em 14 de dezembro Julian Assange foi julgado por um tribunal de Londres, obtendo sua libertao mediante o pagamento de fiana no valor de 200 mil libras. Alm de ter que entregar seu passaporte, ele fica obrigado, at a prxima audincia do caso (marcada para 11 de janeiro de 2011), a viver sob toque de recolher e a usar uma pulseira dotada de um dispositivo eletrnico que indica sua localizao. A deciso foi anunciada pelo juiz Howard Riddle, da corte de Westminster. A princpio, foi informado por Mark Stephens, advogado de Assange, que os representantes do ministrio pblico da Sucia no pretendiam apelar da sentena.[59] Todavia, posteriormente, a advogada Gemma Lindfield informou Corte de Magistrados da cidade de Westminster que os promotores suecos desejam apelar da ordem de fiana, o que deveria ocorrer no prazo de 48 horas.[60] Desde o dia 7, Assange ficou detido em uma cela de isolamento na priso de segurana mxima de Wandsworth, onde teve a correspondncia censurada. Sua me, Christine Assange, falou por telefone durante dez minutos com ele e recebeu uma mensagem, depois transmitida ao canal de televiso australiano Seven Network: "Fao um apelo a todo o mundo para que meu trabalho e meus seguidores sejam protegidos desses ataques ilegais e imorais", dizia um trecho da mensagem.

Em 16 de dezembro de 2010 Assange foi libertado pela justia britnica, aps a negao do recurso da promotoria sueca contra sua liberdade condicional. Enquanto isso, o Departamento de Justia dos Estados Unidos busca provar que Assange encorajou ou ajudou o soldado Bradley Manning a extrair do sistema de computadores do governo material militar reservado e arquivos do Departamento de Estado. Com isso, as autoridades americanas pretendem processar o fundador do WikiLeaks por conspirao.[61]

Segundo o escritor e advogado constitucionalista norte-americano Glenn Greenwald, caso os EUA consigam processar Assange com base na lei de espionagem, de 1917, e na lei de fraude e abuso de computadores, de 1986, jornalistas ficaro mais vulnerveis a aes judiciais. Alm disso, segundo o advogado, o caso pode gerar algum tipo de represso ou censura na Internet. "As pesquisas com o pblico americano mostram que a maioria acredita que o WikiLeaks causou mais danos do que benefcios e que Assange deve ser encarcerado. Os governos sempre querem controlar a Internet. A razo pela qual no podem fazer isso a oposio pblica. O compromisso do WikiLeaks com a transparncia pode aumentar o apoio pblico ao controle da Internet."[62]

Em 24 de fevereiro de 2011, o juiz britnico Howard Riddle determinou a extradio de Assange para a Sucia. Ele afirmou que contestaria a deciso, considerando que o veredito teria tido motivao poltica, sem uma anlise adequada das acusaes feitas contra ele durante o processo. A defesa alegou que Assange no receberia um julgamento justo na Sucia por causa das fortes crticas feitas pelo primeiro-ministro daquele pas, Fredrik Reinfeldt, ao acusado.[63]

Em 31 de maio de 2012, a corte suprema do Reino Unido anunciou sua deciso a favor da extradio de Julian Assange para a Sucia. Em 19 de junho, ele se refugiou na embaixada do Equador em Londres, na esperana de obter asilo poltico daquele pas. Caso o fundador do WikiLeaks seja extraditado para a Sucia, o mais certo que seja posteriormente extraditado para os Estados Unidos, onde deve ser julgado por espionagem, em consequncia da publicao de 250 mil documentos diplomticos norte-americanos.[12] No caso de extradio para os Estados Unidos, seus advogados temem que ele possa ser enviado para a Priso de Guantnamo.[64] Assange contratou o jurista espanhol Baltasar Garzn para assessor-lo na busca asilo poltico no Equador. Garzn, mundialmente reconhecido por sua defesa dos direitos humanos, ganhou maior notoriedade famoso por ter sido o juiz que ordenou a priso do ex-ditador chileno Augusto Pinochet, em 1998.[65]

Investigadores das acusaes contra Julian Assange, fundador de Wikileaks[66][67] suspeitam que ele pode ter sido vitima de uma armadilha sexual planejada por servicos de inteligencia, sobretudo depois da revelao por Edward Snowden, dos documentos sobre as estrategia e objetivos da CIA a serem usados contra Wikileaks[68][69] e Julian Assange.[70][71]

No dia 16 de agosto de 2012 o presidente do Equador, Rafael Correa, confere asilo diplomtico a Assange.[72] Mas o Reino Unido ameaa invadir a embaixada equatoriana em Londres.O Conselho de Ministros das Relaes Exteriores da UNASUL em reunio extraordinria, na cidade de Guayaquil, em 19 de agosto de 2012,decidiu apoiar o governo soberano de Rafael Correa, do Equador, em relao deciso tomada pelo pas de oferecer asilo diplomtico a Assange e repudiou a ameaa por parte do governo dos Estados Unidos contra a embaixada do Equador em Londres[73] .

Recebeu asilo do Equador, mas no pode deixar o prdio da Embaixada em Londres e seguir para o aeroporto e mudar-se de vez para Quito. Certamente, seria preso antes de cruzar a rua. De um pedacinho do Equador no Reino Unido, segue firme em sua luta por liberdade.[74]

A priso de Julian Assange, bem como as atividades mais recentes do WikiLeaks, geraram pronunciamentos de pessoas pblicas. Thomas Flanagan, assessor do primeiro-ministro canadense Stephen Harper, numa entrevista CBC News, recomendou a Barack Obama que oferecesse uma recompensa a quem matasse o fundador do Wikileaks ou que usasse "um drone para acabar com ele".[75][76][77]

J o senador republicano Mitch McConnell declarou, durante entrevista no programa Meet The Press da NBC: "Acho que esse homem [Assange] um terrorista high tech. Ele causou um enorme dano ao nosso pas. E eu penso que ele deva ser processado at que sejam esgotados todo os limites da lei; e se [esses limites] forem um problema, preciso mudar a lei."[78]

O vice-presidente dos Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, em 19 de dezembro, tambm declarou rede de televiso NBC que o Departamento de Justia explora vias legais para deter Julian Assange. Paralelamente via judicial, h iniciativas que visam estrangular tecnica e financeiramente o WikiLeaks. O Bank of America, seguindo os passos da MasterCard, Visa, PayPal e Amazon , anunciou que deixar de processar transaes relacionadas com WikiLeaks.[79]

O cineasta ingls Ken Loach, a milionria Jemima Khan e o jornalista investigativo australiano John Pilger tinham se oferecido para pagar a fiana de Assange e tambm compareceram corte de Westminster no dia do julgamento. Michael Moore e Bianca Jagger tambm contriburam para o pagamento. Alm de dezenas de jornalistas, uma multido de simpatizantes do ativista australiano se concentrou em frente ao tribunal londrino, recebendo com alegria a notcia de que ele seria posto em liberdade.[60][80] .

O ex-presidente brasileiro Luiz Incio Lula da Silva prestou solidariedade a Assange e disse que ele um exemplo do discurso livre.[81][82] O chefe da direo nacional do MST, Joo Paulo Rodrigues, organizou um abaixo-assinado e manifestaes na porta da embaixada junto com outros movimentos sociais da ALBA.[83] .

Vladimir Putin, quando primeiro-ministro da Rssia, declarou que a priso de Assange contra a democracia, que alguns pases se "orgulham" de ter.[84]

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Julian Assange Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre

Three years after Ecuador's government granted political asylum to Julian Assange in its small ground-floor London embassy, the founder of WikiLeaks is still there -- beyond the reach of the government whose vice president, Joe Biden, has labeled him "a digital terrorist." The Obama administration wants Assange in a U.S. prison, so that the only mouse he might ever see would be scurrying across the floor of a solitary-confinement cell.

Above and beyond Assange's personal freedom, what's at stake includes the impunity of the United States and its allies to relegate transparency to a mythical concept, with democracy more rhetoric than reality. From the Vietnam War era to today -- from aerial bombing and torture to ecological disasters and financial scams moving billions of dollars into private pockets -- the high-up secrecy hiding key realities from the public has done vast damage. No wonder economic and political elites despise WikiLeaks for its disclosures.

During the last five years, since the release of the infamous "Collateral Murder" video, the world has changed in major ways for democratic possibilities, with WikiLeaks as a catalyst. It's sadly appropriate that Assange is so deplored and reviled by so many in the upper reaches of governments, huge corporations and mass media. For such powerful entities, truly informative leaks to the public are plagues that should be eradicated as much as possible.

Notably, in the U.S. mass media, Assange is often grouped together with whistleblowers. He is in fact a journalistic editor and publisher. In acute contrast to so many at the top of the corporate media and governmental food chains, Assange insists that democracy requires the "consent of the governed" to be informed consent. While powerful elites work 24/7 to continually gain the uninformed consent of the governed, WikiLeaks has opposite concerns.

Genuine journalistic liberty exists only to the extent that overt or internalized censorship is absent. Especially in a society such as the United States with enduring press freedoms (the First Amendment is bruised and battered but still on its feet), the ultimate propaganda war zone is between people's ears. So much has been surrendered, often unwittingly and unknowingly. Waving the white flag at dominant propaganda onslaughts can only help democracy to expire.

Julian Assange has effectively insisted that another media world is possible and the corporate warfare state is unacceptable. Not coincidentally, the U.S. government wants to capture Assange and put him away, incommunicado, in a prison cell.

*****

Last week, in Sweden, most but not all of the sexual-assault allegations against Assange expired. Still, Assange notes, "I haven't even been charged." And Sweden's government -- while claiming that it is strictly concerned about adhering to its laws -- has refused to limit the legal scope to its own judicial process.

As the BBC reports, "Assange sought asylum three years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden, fearing he would then be sent to the U.S. and put on trial for releasing secret American documents." Closely aligned with Washington, the Swedish government refuses to promise that it would not turn Assange over to the U.S. government for extradition.

"Julian Assange has spent more time incarcerated in the small rooms of the embassy, with no access to fresh air or exercise and contrary to international law, than he could ever spend in a Swedish prison on these allegations," says one of his lawyers, Helena Kennedy.

*****

While government leaders have ample reasons to want to impale his image on a media spike and put him in prison for decades, many corporate titans -- including venerated innovator billionaires of Silicon Valley -- are not much more kindly disposed. The extent of their relentless commitments to anti-democratic greed has been brilliantly deconstructed in Assange's 2014 book "When Google Met WikiLeaks."

"Google's geopolitical aspirations are firmly enmeshed within the foreign-policy agenda of the world's largest superpower," Assange wrote. "As Google's search and internet service monopoly grows, and as it enlarges its industrial surveillance cone to cover the majority of the world's population, rapidly dominating the mobile phone market and racing to extend internet access in the global south, Google is steadily becoming the internet for many people. Its influence on the choices and behavior of the totality of individual human beings translates to real power to influence the course of history."

As for courage -- which too often is the stuff of mystifying legends about heroes on pedestals -- Assange's observations might help us to grasp how it can gradually be summoned from within ourselves. Worth pondering: "Courage is not the absence of fear. Only fools have no fear. Rather, courage is the intellectual mastery of fear by understanding the true risks and opportunities of the situation and keeping those things in balance."

Assange added: "It is not simply having prejudice about what the risks are, but actually testing them. There are all sorts of myths that go around about what can be done and what cannot be done. It's important to test. You don't test by jumping off a bridge. You test by jumping off a footstool, and then jumping off something a bit higher, and a bit higher."

While visiting him last fall and a couple of months ago, I found Assange no less insightful during informal conversations. This is a dangerous person, in words and deeds -- dangerous to the overlapping agendas of large corporations and governments in service to each other -- dangerous to those who constantly make a killing from war, vast inequities and plunder of the planet.

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Subverting Illusions: Julian Assange and the Value of ...

Julian Assange with Ecuadors foreign minister, Ricardo Patino (left) inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Photograph: John Stillwell/AP

Ecuador has hit back at the British government over who is to blame for the deadlocked case of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The Australian has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than three years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault.

Three of four investigations were dropped last week after they time-lapsed.

The Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said Ecuadors decision to harbour Assange had prevented the proper course of justice.

He said the UK continued to have a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden.

The continuing failure to expedite the Swedish prosecutors interview, and to bring this situation to an end, is being seen as a growing stain on the countrys reputation, he said.

Ecuadors acting foreign minister, Xavier Lasso, said he categorically rejected the accusations. It is not acceptable to try to place the responsibility for the lack of progress in this area over the last five years on Ecuador.

If diplomatic relations had been abused it was the British government that had done so, he said, recalling that it had threatened to violate the immunity of diplomatic premises and maintained a police cordon outside the embassy in London.

The British government has the sole responsibility for such an invasive and unnecessary police deployment, Lasso said.

The republic of Ecuador will not take lessons from any foreign government, least of all those that are unaware of the institution of political asylum, its legitimacy, attached and enshrined in international law, and its humanitarian nature based on the sovereign equality of nations.

Assange fears being taken to the US for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.

The police operation to guard the embassy has cost more than 12m.

Read the rest here:
Ecuador hits back at UK criticism over Julian Assange ...

Julian Assange with Ecuadors foreign minister, Ricardo Patino. Photograph: John Stillwell/AP

Julian Assange has criticised what he described as the incompetence of Swedens prosecutor after she dropped her investigation into some of the allegations of sexual assault against him due to the expiration of a five-year time limit for bringing charges.

Prosecutors will continue to pursue an interview with the WikiLeaks founder over an outstanding rape allegation.

I am extremely disappointed. There was no need for any of this, Assange said in a statement.

I am an innocent man. I havent even been charged. From the beginning I offered simple solutions. Come to the [Ecuadorian] embassy to take my statement or promise not to send me to the United States. This Swedish official refused both.

The Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, said she regretted leaving the investigation unfinished, but said she was forced to do so because Assange had refused to leave Ecuadors London embassy, where he has taken refuge.

Two women made allegations against Assange five years ago in Stockholm, but no charges were brought because the prosecutor was unable to interrogate him after he challenged an extradition order and sought political asylum in the embassy in June 2012.

Assange, who denies the allegations, believes that travelling to Sweden would leave him vulnerable to extradition to the US to face espionage charges. His repeated requests to the Swedish government for a firm guarantee of his safety have been declined.

For more than four years Ny refused to go to London to interview Assange, but changed her mind in March after a Swedish court questioned her failure to make progress in the investigation. Ny cited the impending expiry of the statute of limitations as a reason for the turnabout.

But it was June before the Swedish government made an official request to Ecuador to enter the embassy, and an agreed date to begin interrogation a week later had to be scrapped. After a tense standoff in which each side blamed the other for delays, this week they agreed to formal talks over judicial cooperation, potentially breaking the deadlock but not in time to prevent the time limit on most of the accusations running out.

It is still my hope to be able to conduct a hearing [on the rape allegation] since there is an ongoing dialogue on the issue between Sweden and Ecuador, Ny said in a statement.

Assange said: She has managed to avoid hearing my side of the story entirely. This is beyond incompetence. I am strong but the cost to my family is unacceptable.

Britain said on Thursday it would make a formal protest to the Ecuadorian government over its decision to provide asylum to Assange.

Ecuador must recognise that its decision to harbour Mr Assange more than three years ago has prevented the proper course of justice, the Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said in a statement.

The statute of limitations for an allegation of unlawful coercion and one case of sexual molestation expired on Thursday; another allegation of sexual molestation expires on Tuesday. The outstanding allegation of rape expires on 17 August 2020.

Claes Borgstrm, a Stockholm lawyer who represents one of the women whose allegations against Assange will now never be tested in court, said the woman was ambivalent about the situation. On the one hand, she wanted Assange to face trial and answer for what he has done. On the other, she wants to put this behind her.

Helena Kennedy QC, a member of Assanges legal team, said he had spent more time in the embassy than he could ever spend in a Swedish prison, and the remaining allegation against him was just as unlikely to lead to conviction.

The question remains whether we are dealing with incompetence or bad faith or an agenda set by other considerations. I remain unconvinced that this prosecution has been about securing justice for women.

Read the original here:
Julian Assange condemns Swedish handling of sexual assault ...

Police in Sweden say theyre dropping the sexual assault charges against Julian Assange, not because he didnt do ita question of fact that will never be answeredbut because he successfully holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London long enough that the statute of limitations has expired.

(Assange has been accused of coercing two Swedish women into unprotected sex in 2010; Swedish authorities say he purposely tore the condom he was using with at least one of the women. Assange says its all an elaborate honeypot to lure him to Sweden so he can be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on espionage charges linked documents published on Wikileaks. I say, why cant it be both?)

Anyway, Assange took the news well, bombastically speaking, via CNN:

On Thursday, Assange reacted to the news by lashing out at Swedish prosecutors over his legal troubles. I am extremely disappointed, he said in a statement. There was no need for any of this. I am an innocent man. I havent even been charged.

But despite his technical victory, the flaxen secret-leaker cant leave his diplomatic Swedish rape bunker just yetaccording to CNN, the still-pending rape charges against him wont expire until 2020.

Still, he seems to be making do.http://gawker.com/did-julian-ass...

Contact the author at gabrielle@gawker.com.

Excerpt from:
Sweden Drops Sex Assault Charges But Julian Assange Still ...

Swedish prosecutors announced Thursday that they were dropping their investigation into someof the sexual-abuse allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up for three years in the Ecuadorean Embassy here in the British capital.

But a more serious accusation of rape remains lodged against Assange, meaning that the white-maned whistle-blower doesnt plan to quit the small suite of rooms in Londons tony Knightsbridge neighborhood, which he hasnt left since June 2012.

His persistence in staying put, out of reach of British authorities charged with arresting and extraditing him to Sweden, has basically allowed Assange to run out the clock on allegations that he sexually abused two women in separate incidents in Stockholm five years ago this month. The investigation into allegations of molestation and unlawful coercion in one of those incidents was dropped Thursday; the allegation of molestation in the other incident will lapse next Tuesday.

Julian Assange, on his own accord, has evaded prosecution by seeking refuge in the embassy of Ecuador, Marianne Ny, Swedens director of public prosecution, said in a statement. As the statute of limitation has [expired] on some of the crimes, I am compelled to discontinue the investigation.

But the deadline for the investigation into the rape allegation is not until August 2020, Ny added. Her office will continue negotiating with Ecuadorean authorities over the possibility of interviewing Assange inside the embassy in London, rather than hauling him back to Stockholm.

The Australian-born Assange denies the accusations against him and insists that he is willing to submit to questioning to clear his name. He says he was forced to seek refuge in the embassy, which counts as Ecuadorean soil, to avoid extradition for fear that Sweden would hand him over to the U.S. to be tried for WikiLeaks publication of an enormous trove of classified American military and diplomatic files.

Since then, he has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but has no way of getting there, because British police watching out for an attempted escape have been posted outside the embassy in an around-the-clock vigil costing an estimated $19 million so far.

To his supporters, Assange remains a towering hero; to his opponents, a cowering fugitive. He has boasted of frequent visits by celebrities who take his side, including actors John Cusack and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

In his cramped quarters, which he shares with Ecuadorean diplomatic staff, Assange has use of a phone, the Internet, a shower, a treadmill, a kitchenette and a sun lamp to help compensate for his inability to step outside to soak up natural sunlight.

He acknowledges having had sex with the two women at the center of the allegations but says it was consensual.

Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer for one of the women, said his client wanted to put the matter behind her.

She had wanted him to stand before the court and answer the accusations, but its five years ago and shes not interested in going to court now, Borgstrom told the BBC. Its been a difficult time for her, and shes now trying to forget about it and move on with her life.

Assange was first arrested by British police in December 2010 and remained under a form of house arrest at a friends country estate in eastern England while various British courts heard his appeals against extradition. At the end of May 2012, his final appeal to Britains Supreme Court was denied.

Three weeks later, he fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy, just a few days before he was to be handed over to Swedish authorities.

MORE ON WIKILEAKS' JULIAN ASSANGE:

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange leads hidden, busy life in Ecuador's embassy

Sweden bends in Julian Assange case, asks for interview in London

New moves to resolve Swedish standoff with WikiLeaks founder Assange

Originally posted here:
Sweden drops some sexual-abuse cases against Julian ...

Assange (right) has always denied the sexual assault allegations against him [AP]

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to be cleared of three sexual assault allegations made in Sweden within days, as a five-year statute of limitations against the charges expires.

Three of the charges of sexual molestation involving two women he met during a visit to Sweden five years ago will expire on August 13 and August 18.

The statute of limitations on a fourth and more serious allegation of rape is not set to expire for another five years.

Inside Story: The curious case of Julian Assange

Never charged

Assange, who has been holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for more than three years, has never been charged with any offence and has denied all of the allegations.

His lawyer, Thomas Olsson, told Swedish Television last week that it was "lamentable that it's taken such a long time to wind up this case" and called on Swedish prosecutors to close the investigation.

OPINION: WikiLeaks and Anonymous respond to status quo journalism

However, he said it was unlikely that the closing of the case itself would be enough to prompt Assange to leave the embassy, where he has sought asylum since June 2012, as he remained concerned over being extradited to the US to face charges over WikiLeaks' publication of classified US military and diplomatic documents.

"The reason he is at the embassy is his concern over being extradited to the US and prosecuted there because of the very serious accusations the US made about WikiLeaks publications and because of personal threats made by people in public office," Olsson said.

"So long as that threat remains - and it's a threat of global scope - he can't leave the embassy."

On Wednesday the Financial Times reported that Ecuador had agreed to hold talks with Sweden about questioning Assange, a move which could end a years-long stand-off.

Swedish officials said Ecuador had wanted Sweden to sign a bilateral agreement on judicial cooperation regarding Assange's case before allowing Swedish prosecutors to question him. Sweden described the demand as unreasonable.

Assange's lawyer Olsson said Assange's lawyers had for several years requested prosecutors to come and interrogate Assange "but had not had a reply".

"What people forget is that Julian Assange voluntarily attended the first interrogation and answered the questions he was asked," Olsson said.

"Then the investigation was closed and a new prosecutor arrived on the scene to open it again."

Bradley Manning, a US army soldier, in 2013 was sentenced in a military court to a maximum term of 35 years' jail for passing on thousands of classified military documents to WikiLeaks for publication.

Source:Al Jazeera and agencies

Go here to see the original:
Sex claims against WikiLeaks founder Assange to expire ...

Story highlights UK calls for Ecuador to allow the extradition of Julian Assange to Sweden in line with legal obligations Statute of limitations on some charges running out, but allegation of suspicion of rape stands Assange fears that if extradited to Sweden, he could land in the United States

On Thursday, prosecutors announced they are dropping allegations involving sexual molestation and coercion as statutes of limitations in the investigation run out this month.

Their disappearance may not change Assange's predicament. The allegation of suspicion of rape still stands and he may be investigated on it until 2020, Swedish prosecutors have said.

Assange appears still to be stuck at the embassy, where British police stand guard to see to it he can be extradited to Sweden should he set foot outside the door.

The Australian has never been charged and denies the allegations against him in Sweden.

On Thursday, Assange reacted to the news by lashing out at Swedish prosecutors over his legal troubles. "I am extremely disappointed," he said in a statement. "There was no need for any of this. I am an innocent man. I haven't even been charged."

A bigger fear may be nagging at Assange. If apprehended by the Swedes, he has said he could eventually end up in the United States, where he could be charged and tried over the leak of confidential U.S. documents to the public via the website WikiLeaks.

If the case of Chelsea Manning, formerly Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, is any indication, Assange could face a heavy penalty in the U.S. justice system. Manning was sentenced to 35 years behind bars for stealing 750,000 pages of classified documents and slipping them to WikiLeaks.

Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006, and in December 2007, it posted a U.S. Army manual for soldiers dealing with prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It drew outrage from critics of the U.S. handling of inmates and from the U.S. government, which condemned the leak as illegal.

In the coming years, WikiLeaks exposed documents from the Church of Scientology, Sarah Palin, a far-right British party and New Yorkers terrified by the September 11, 2001, attacks.

More:
Julian Assange's legal troubles are far from over - CNN.com

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, pictured during a press conference inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Photograph: John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images

Swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Julian Assange after the deadline for bringing charges expired, but said they would continue to pursue an interview with the WikiLeaks founder over an outstanding rape allegation.

Two women made allegations against Assange five years ago in Stockholm, but no charges have been brought because the prosecutor has been unable to interrogate him after he challenged an extradition order and claimed political asylum in Ecuadors London embassy in June 2012.

Assange, who denies the allegations, fears that travelling to Sweden would leave him vulnerable to extradition to the US to face espionage charges. His requests to the Swedish government for a firm guarantee of his safety have been declined.

Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny said in a statement: Julian Assange has voluntarily stayed away from justice by taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy. Now that the limitation period has passed for some of the [alleged] crimes I am forced to discontinue the preliminary investigation in these parts. This means that the investigation of the events is left unfinished because the suspect has not been heard, which I regret.

In early June Sweden submitted a request to interrogate Assange at Ecuadors embassy, Ny said. It is still my hope to be able to conduct a hearing since there is an ongoing dialogue on the issue between Sweden and Ecuador.

Assange said he was extremely disappointed in the outcome, saying the Swedish prosecutor has managed to avoid hearing his side of the story entirely.

From the beginning I offered simple solutions, Assange said. Come to the embassy to take my statement or promise not to send me to the United States. This Swedish official refused both. She even refused a written statement This is beyond incompetence.

After a tense standoff between Sweden and Ecuador over the conditions of access to Ecuadors London embassy, on Monday Sweden offered to open talks with Ecuador to reach a formal agreement on judicial cooperation, potentially breaking the deadlock but not in time to prevent the statute of limitations on most of the accusations expiring.

The statute of limitations for an allegation of unlawful coercion and one case of sexual molestation expired on Thursday; another allegation of sexual molestation expires on Tuesday. The outstanding allegation of rape expires on 17 August 2020.

Read more:
Julian Assange: three cases dropped but inquiry into rape ...

Latest:

On 11 May 2015 the Supreme Court of Sweden issued a split decision in the Assange case. Judge Svante O. Johanssons dissenting opinion argued that the detention order should be revoked because the actual harm and intrusion outweighed the reasons for a continued detention. Swedens Court of Appeal had previously rebuked the prosecutor in November 2014 for breaching her duty to progress the preliminary investigation. Read more. The Supreme Court accepted that the prosecutor had breached her duty for stalling for so long. However, the majority of judges argued that Julian Assange would continue to be detained in absentia without charge. The reasoning was that the court could overlook the fact that the preliminary investigation had been frozen for over four years now that the prosecutor had announced that she would accept to take Mr. Assanges statement in the embassy of Ecuador in London, where he has asylum.

Whats next?

The United Nations adjudicating body on arbitrary detention, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, is currently considering Julian Assanges filing, and a verdict is expected imminently.

Julian Assange, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, has detained without charge in one form or another since 7 December 2010. He is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London which has granted him asylum and recognised that he risks extradition to the United States for his publishing activities with WikiLeaks.

The US periodically confirms that a criminal national security investigation into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks is ongoing for example to a US court on 4 March 2015, and to the Washington Post on 28 January 2015.

In Sweden, Julian Assange is not charged with a crime. But in a highly unusual move, Sweden issued an Interpol Red Notice and a European Arrest Warrant, immediately after WikiLeaks began publishing a cache of 250,000 US Diplomatic Cables on 29 November 2010. Such warrants are usually issued for persons whose whereabouts are unknown. But Julian Assanges whereabouts were known (he had given a press conference and hundreds of interviews in London). His lawyers were in communication with the prosecutor and had communicated that he was available to answer questions from the Swedish prosecutor through standard means.

Questioning people within European borders is a routine and uncomplicated process, which is standardised throughout the European Union. Sweden often uses these means to question people.

In the initial ten days after 20 August 2010, the police opened the preliminary investigation, it was assigned to three different prosecutors in quick succession. The penultimate prosecutor found that the case had no basis, and that there were no grounds to place Julian Assange under a criminal investigation.

The final prosecutor however, Marianne Ny, took over on 1 September 2010 and reopened the investigation. The Swedish investigation has been frozen since 2010. In November 2014, Swedens Svea Court of Appeal ruled that the prosecutor had failed her professional duty to progress the investigation against Julian Assange.

Originally posted here:
Justice for Assange