WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Julian Assange, founder of the website WikiLeaks, has been a key figure in major leaks of classified government documents, cables and videos since his site launched in 2006.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange holds a copy of The Guardian newspaper in London on July 26, 2010, a day after WikiLeaks posted more than 90,000 classified documents related to the Afghanistan War.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange attends a seminar at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Stockholm on August 14, 2010. Six days later, Swedish prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest based on allegations of sexual assault from two women.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange displays a page from WikiLeaks on October 23, 2010, in London. WikiLeaks released approximately 400,000 classified military documents from the Iraq War the day before.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange and his bodyguards are seen after a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 4, 2010. It was the month WikiLeaks began releasing diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange sits behind the tinted window of a police vehicle at Westminster Magistrates court in London on December 14, 2010. Assange had turned himself in to London authorities on December 7 and was released on bail and put on house arrest on December 16.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange supporters stand outside Belmarsh Magistrates Court in London on February 24, 2011, as a judge ruled in favor of Assange's extradition to Sweden.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Copies of the "unauthorized autobiography" of Assange sit on display in a bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland, on September 22, 2011. Earlier that month, WikiLeaks released more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange speaks to demonstrators from the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in London on October 15, 2011.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Two police officers stand guard outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 20, 2012, after Assange took refuge there to avoid arrest and extradition by British police. Ecuador granted him asylum in August 2012.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange speaks from a window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on December 20, 2012. Facing arrest by British officials, Assange has not set foot outside the embassy since June 2012.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange appears with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino on the balcony of the embassy on June 16, 2013.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Assange in the film "The Fifth Estate." Assange refused to meet the actor, stating: "I believe you are well-intentioned, but surely you can see why it is a bad idea for me to meet with you. By meeting with you, I would validate this wretched film, and endorse the talented, but debauched, performance that the script will force you to give."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange speaks during a panel discussion at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2014.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Assange attends a news conference inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August.

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Julian Assange is denied a hospital visit, Ecuador says ...

The WikiLeaks founder has been in the embassy since he took refuge there to avoid extradition in June 2012. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters

Ecuador has requested that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be allowed a safe passage out of the countrys London embassy to hospital for a medical examination.

Ecuadors Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had made the request so that Assange, who has been living for 40 months inside its London embassy, could undergo an MRI scan as a result of pain in his shoulder. At present, he faces arrest if he leaves the embassy.

The WikiLeaks founder, an Australian national, sought political asylum at the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him over rape allegations. In August they dropped their investigation into two other claims one of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion because they ran out of time to question him.

The development comes after Scotland Yard called off its multimillion pound 24-hour surveillance of the embassy earlier this week, having decided the operation is no longer proportionate.

The Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday night: The Ecuadorian govt have informed us that Mr Assange requires a medical assessment.

There is no question that the British authorities would in any way seek to impede Mr Assange receiving medical advice or care. We have made this clear to the govt of Ecuador.

Asked if Assange would be arrested if he left the embassy to visit a hospital a Foreign Office spokesperson said that it was a matter for the police.

Speaking on Wednesday on Ecuadorian TV, Ecuadors foreign minister Ricardo Patio said that Britain should grant Julian Assange safe passage so that he can leave the embassy.

He added that the British authorities should make this gesture so Assange can benefit from the right of asylum that we have granted him, as should be done in a respectful international relationship.

The WikiLeaks Twitter account linked to a statement saying that the source of the shoulder pain being experienced by Assange could only be diagnosed with hospital equipment that could not be brought into the embassy due to size and weight.

It added that Ecuador wrote to the Foreign Office on 30 September 2015 to request that Assange be permitted to go to the hospital under conditions agreed upon by the UK and Ecuador.

The allowance would be for a few hours to allow Assange to be able to have medical tests undertaken and to diagnose the cause. It said that the Foreign Office had replied on 12 October that it would not permit the safe passage to the hospital for purposes of medical tests.

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Ecuador asks Britain to allow Julian Assange 'safe passage ...

Updated October 13, 2015 06:38:57

British police say they will no longer stand guard outside London's Ecuadorian embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took refuge in 2012.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said it had "withdrawn the physical presence of officers from outside the embassy" but would strengthen a "covert plan" to prevent his departure.

"The operation to arrest Julian Assange does however continue and should he leave the embassy the MPS will make every effort to arrest him," it said.

"Whilst no tactics guarantee success in the event of Julian Assange leaving the embassy, the MPS will deploy a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him."

A significant amount of time has passed since Julian Assange entered the embassy [and] there is no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue.

Metropolitan Police Service

Swedish prosecutors want to question Mr Assange about a rape claim, which carries a 10-year statute of limitations that expires in 2020.

Mr Assange, who faces arrest if he tries to leave the embassy, denies the allegation and insists the sexual encounter was consensual.

The Foreign Office said the head of the diplomatic service, Simon McDonald, had summoned Ecuadorean ambassador Carlos Abad Ortiz to insist on a resolution to the impasse.

"The UK has been absolutely clear since June 2012 that we have a legal obligation to extradite Assange to Sweden," the ministry statement said.

"That obligation remains today."

The 24-hour guard outside the embassy in central London has cost taxpayers more than 10 million pounds ($20.8 million), the source of much criticism in austerity-hit Britain.

"Like all public services, MPS resources are finite. With so many different criminal, and other, threats to the city it protects, the current deployment of officers is no longer believed proportionate," police said.

"A significant amount of time has passed since Julian Assange entered the embassy, and despite the efforts of many people there is no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue."

The 44-year-old Australian also fears that if he leaves he could eventually face extradition to the United States and a trial over the leak of hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010.

Swedish officials said in August that they hoped to reach a judicial cooperation deal with Ecuador by year's end that would pave the way for prosecutors to question Mr Assange.

AFP

Topics: information-and-communication, world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, activism-and-lobbying, united-kingdom

First posted October 13, 2015 01:36:26

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Julian Assange: British police end round-the-clock guard ...

By Keiligh Baker for MailOnline

Published: 08:37 EST, 12 October 2015 | Updated: 03:13 EST, 13 October 2015

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Police officers have stopped standing guard outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is holed up, for the first time in more than three years.

Scotland Yard said yesterday that they have removed the permanent guard of officers who have been stationed outside ready to arrest Assange since 2012 - at a total cost of 12.6million

The controversial activist has been living in the embassy to avoid being extradited to Sweden over rape allegations.

Assange appeared to celebrate the announcement by ordering himself a celebratory pizza, as a 12.99 Domino's order marked for 'J Assange' was delivered to the embassy yesterday afternoon.

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Police said they have removed the permanent guard of officers who have been stationed outside the embassy ever since Julian Assange (pictured at the embassy) took refuge there in 2012 in a bid to avoid extradition

Scotland Yard said that while they are removing the 24/7 guard outside the embassy they will still do their best to arrest the WikiLeaks founder.

The outspoken former computer hacker still faces immediate arrest should he emerge from the embassy, with police assuring 'every effort' would be made to detain him in order that he can be extradited.

The police's decision to end their round-the-clock surveillance comes after repeated attacks on the cost of the operation, which has totalled 12.6million so far.

Officers insist that they will not relent in their efforts to arrest Assange, who was accused of rape by a Swedish woman after visiting the country five years ago.

He denies the allegation, but says he cannot travel to Sweden to stand trial lest he be extradited to the US, where he fears prosecution over Wikileaks' publication of secret military and diplomatic records.

Three charges of sexual assault were dropped by Swedish prosecutors in August due to the statue of limitations.

Following the announcement by the police Assange appears to have ordered himself a pizza to celebrate

Assange has spent the past three years seeking political asylum. He is wanted for arrest for crimes of espionage, leaking documents and alleged sex crimes (pictured: Police leave the Ecuadorian embassy)

Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuador on political grounds, but is reported to have annoyed embassy staff and become frustrated at being confined to just a few rooms, with a small balcony giving him his only chance to get fresh air.

The country's Left-wing government is believed to have considered a series of plans to smuggle Assange out of the UK - including appointing him an Ecuadorian diplomat or disguising him in fancy dress.

London politicians welcomed the decision to withdraw the permanent police guard, arguing that Scotland Yard could have saved millions by adopting different techniques from the start.

Green Party leader Jenny Jones said: 'Why have we wasted so much valuable police time and taxpayer money keeping one man trapped in an embassy, when using covert surveillance was always an option?'

Labour's Murad Qureshi added: 'With neighbourhood policing being decimated by cuts, we need to see this money spent on protecting Londoners not police officers providing window dressing for the Ecuadorian Embassy.'

The Domino's delivery was marked for a J Assange as it was delivered to the Ecuadorian embassy

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor, criticised Assange for wasting the money of British taxpayers by refusing to face trial.

'Over 12million of the Met's resources have sadly been squandered and policing in London has been put under further pressure simply due to Assange's actions,' she said. 'It is now time that this immense policing bill created by a diplomatic spat was picked up by the Home Office.

'But most importantly, irrespective of the level of policing of the Ecuadorian embassy in the future, the one fact remains is that he should simply walk out of Ecuadorean embassy and finally let justice prevail.'

Assange was first arrested on a European Arrest Warrant in December 2010 and ordered to face extradition to answer sex charges.

A spokesman for Wikileaks claimed that police were 'escalating the covert operation' and accused officers of trying to cover up the costs of the operation by ending the highly visible guard.

Swedish prosecutors dropped sexual assault claims against Assange in August when a time limit expired, but he is still wanted on a rape accusation made after his visit to the country five years ago

In a statement released yesterday, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'While the MPS remains committed to executing the arrest warrant and presenting Julian Assange before the court, it is only right that the policing operation to achieve this is continually reviewed against the diplomatic and legal efforts to resolve the situation.

'As a result of this continual review the MPS has today withdrawn the physical presence of officers from outside the embassy.

'The operation to arrest Julian Assange does however continue and should he leave the Embassy the MPS will make every effort to arrest him.

'However, it is no longer proportionate to commit officers to a permanent presence. The MPS will not discuss what form its continuing operation will take or the resourcing implications surrounding it.'

He added:'This decision has not been taken lightly and the MPS has discussed it with the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

'A significant amount of time has passed since Julian Assange entered the embassy and despite the efforts of many people there is no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue.

'The MPS has to balance the interests of justice in this case with the ongoing risks to the safety of Londoners and all those we protect, investigating crime and arresting offenders wanted for serious offences, in deciding what a proportionate response is.'

Swedish officials recently said they were optimistic about reaching an agreement with Ecuador which could pave the way for the questioning of Assange in London on outstanding accusations against him

In a recent interview, Assange claimed he had not had any fresh air or sunlight for three years.

He said: 'There are security issues with being on the balcony. There have been bomb threats and assassination threats from various people.'

The Australian was granted political asylum by Ecuador under the 1951 Refugee Convention in 2012.

Swedish officials recently said they were optimistic about reaching an agreement with Ecuador which could pave the way for the questioning of Assange in London on outstanding accusations against him.

Justice ministry spokeswoman Cecilia Riddselius said talks between Swedish officials and their counterparts in Ecuador had been 'very good, very constructive' and could lead to a general agreement on legal cooperation 'in time for Christmas'.

Assange has said he would welcome being questioned at the embassy.

October 2006 Assange sets up WikiLeaks for anonymous whistleblowers

April 2010 WikiLeaks reveals a video called Collateral Murder, showing two US military teams shooting a group of men from Apache helicopters. Among those killed were two Reuters war correspondents

July 2010 WikiLeaks releases US logs from the Afghan War, which includes civilian casualties and the names of alleged NATO informers

August 2010 - During a visit to Sweden a prosecutor orders Assange's arrest for rape and molestation, though this is terminated five days later

September 2010 After reviewing the original claim, the investigation is renewed by Swedish prosecutors. Assange is arrested in his absence

October 2010 Iraq War logs are released the biggest single leak in US military history

November 2010 A quarter of a million unclassified and confidential diplomatic cables are published by WikiLeaks. US Attorney-General Eric Holder confirms there is 'an active, ongoing criminal investigation' into WikiLeaks. Swedish prosecutors issue an international warrant for Assange's arrest

December 2010 US vice president Joe Biden dubs Assange a 'terrorist'. He is arrested by British police and later released on bail

February 2011 A High Court in London approves Sweden's extradition request

April 2011 WikiLeaks publishes files from Guantanamo Bay revealing details of detainees

November 2011 High Court dismisses Assange's appeal against extradition. He takes it to the UK's Supreme Court

May 2012 Supreme Court upholds the High Court's decision to surrender Assange to Sweden

June 2012 Assange requests the appeal to be re-opened; Supreme Court rejects this request. Assange then seeks political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London

August 2012 Ecuador grants Assange asylum, saying there are fears his human rights might be violated if he is extradited

August 2014 - Assange reveals plans to leave the embassy 'soon'

November 2014-Sweden's Court of Appeal upholds the arrest warrant against Assange

August 2015 - Swedish prosecutors drop their investigation into two allegations - one of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion because they have run out of time to question him. But he still faces the more serious accusation of rape. He continues to deny all the allegations

October 2015 - Metropolitan Police announces that officers will no longer be stationed outside the Ecuadorian embassy

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Wikileaks Julian Assange no longer being guarded by police ...

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains indoors for the foreseeable future. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

JULIAN Assange has his supporters. He counts the children who send him elaborate, hand-drawn escape plans among them. But he doesnt include Canberra in that category.

In a revealing interview on Sydney breakfast radio on Wednesday morning from the confines of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, the Wikileaks founder said Australia had abandoned him.

Ive had no contact with the Australian consulate for years and when I do they say, What do you want? Assange said.

Thats not about me. Thats about Australia being famous for abandoning Australians whenever they get into criminal conflict. It seems to be the nature of Canberra that they abandon Australians.

He called Canberra a horrific place.

Assange hasnt spoken to Australian media since May. He may be done with the hard-hitting questions journalists normally fire at him because this time he chose a different path. He spoke instead with Kiis FMs Kyle and Jackie O Show on a morning when Kyle was replaced by stand-in host Matty Acton. He even answered questions from the shows listeners.

Assange, 44, is three years into an open-ended stay at the embassy. The computer hacker is wanted in Australia, the US, Sweden, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Germany for espionage, for leaking sensitive documents including the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and for alleged sex crimes.

Assange said he doesnt know when hell be allowed to leave and cant even stick his hand out the window.

He rejected the suggestion that he had plotted an escape and spoke of his heartache at what his family has been put through.

Despite it all the lack of sunlight, the unending police presence at his front door Assange said he would do it all again.

If you believe in something then you have to pay a cost to achieve it. Thats all right. I complain about the injustice and the politics but I understand this game, he said.

A cartoon depicts Assange using an Ecuadorean flag as a shield. Artwork by Sturt Krygsman.Source:News Limited

ITS A SERIOUS SITUATION HERE

Inside the embassy, Julian Assange and his supporters use old Nokia mobile phones. Theres no risking the use of smartphones.

All smartphones we have to assume are infected and weve banned them, Assange said. We joke here that the only way to go is to set up a state that has no electronic devices, no mobiles, like a park.

Thats about where the jokes end. The situation, Assange says, is serious. The British government is certainly taking it seriously. Armed guards wait outside the embassy 24 hours a day. Assange estimates there are 100 fulltime police surrounding the building at a cost of $A15million so far.

Their presence and Assanges wanted status takes a toll on the Wikileaks editor-in-chief and on his family.

Im sure they question (my being here), he said.

That is more significant (than me questioning it). When Wikileaks does what it does, they have to pay a cost. My family sure as hell didnt agree to pay those costs. Theyve been harassed (and there have been) calls for their assassinations to get at me.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange peers out the window of the Ecuadorean embassy. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

It hasnt dissuaded him from continuing his work. In fact, he says it helps him because he has nothing else to do.

Last week he was drawn into commenting on the rise of Islamic State and defending his organisations role in helping the terror group prosper.

Theres no allegation anything we have published has benefited the Islamic State, but lets go back. Its the failure of the press here to properly cover what has been happening in Syria (that) has led to the rise of the IS. Thats a very, very serious phenomenon.

The intelligence agencies have run amok, military supplies have run amok, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Turkey have run amok and as a result we now have the Islamic State, where we have incredible refugee flows, a human rights catastrophe.

Julian Assanges journey to the Ecuadorean embassy has been a long one. It started in Sweden in 2010 when he was accused of meeting two women and having sex with them. The women claim they were raped and Assange was never charged.

Benedict Cumberbatch (left) portrays Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate.Source:Supplied

He was arrested that November, two months after leaving Sweden, after Interpol issued a notice for his arrest. He posted bail and, following legal wrangling, Sweden requested he be extradited two years later.

Because he faces charges of espionage in the US, Assange is reluctant to face court in Sweden. He believes that hell be forced to travel to the US to face charges stemming from leaked documents.

On July 19, he applied for asylum at the embassy in Knightbridge and, once inside, was greeted by a large police presence. Three years later, they are still waiting for him to come outside.

During Wednesdays interview, Assange allowed listeners to call in and ask him questions. He answered them all. At the end of the interview, he even apologised. Not for the leaks or for the saga but for something else entirely.

Excuse my ruined Australian accent, he said.

WikiLeaks claims we need greater control of agencies that influence our lives. How real is this threat and what do the experts say?

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Julian Assange on Kyle and Jackie O Show: Canberra is a ...

By Daniel Peters For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 05:49 EST, 7 October 2015 | Updated: 06:13 EST, 7 October 2015

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has accused the Australian Government of abandoning him and other Australians in need in a rare live radio interview.

Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie-O show on Wednesday morning Mr Assange, who is wanted for arrest in six different countries,happily answered an array of listener questions and jokingly apologised for his 'ruined Australian accent'.

He also hit out at the Australian consulate in London. Hehas spent the past three years seeking political asylum inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in the same city.

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Julian Assange accused the Australian Government of 'abandoning' him amidst serious political conflict

The Wikileaks founder spoke on KIIS FM on Wednesday morning, dialing in from the Ecuadorian Embassy

The 44-year-old has spent the past three years seeking political asylum in the London building, wanted for arrest by six countries for crimes of espionage, leaking sensitive documents and alleged sex crimes

'There has been no contact with the Australian consulate for years, and when I do they simply say, "What do you want?",' Mr Assange said.

'That's not about me, that's about Australia being famous for abandoning Australians around the world whenever they get into political conflict,' he continued.

The 44-year-old is wanted by the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Sweden for a list of serious crimes including espionage, leaking sensitive documents and alleged sexual assault.

The minute he steps outside of the building, which he claims has been the site of a U.K. police 'siege' - with the equivalent of 100 full time police guarding the grounds day and night - he will be placed under arrest by English authorities.

In the interview, which covered a vast range of topics, including the use of smart phones inside the embassy and family death threats, the Australian-born former hacker described Canberra as a 'horrific, horrific place.'

Asked on whether he had thought about devising his very own 'Jason Bourne escape plan', Mr Assange laughed, before adding: 'Just about everything has been thought of.'

He explained that his wall was plastered with letters from children outlining 'well-drawn' and 'very well detailed escape plans' of him on a flying fox over to Harrods.

'They show the look of the astounded police man as I zip past overhead,' Assange joked.

It was the first time Assange has spoken to Australian media since May, choosing to be interviewed on commercial radio without shock jock Kyle Sandilands, who was away and replaced by fill-in Matty Acton.

Mr Assange said that every week children sent in letters with detailed escape plans involving flying foxes and zip-lines

It was the first time Mr Assange has spoken to Australian media since May,

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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange jokes he's losing his ...

Julian Assange says US authorities have assigned the same prosecutor for him, Edward Snowden and Kim Dotcom in Virginia in an example of what he describes as lawfare an attempt to universally apply American law in places where the military cant reach.

The US goes about conducting lawfare as much as warfare, Assange said. He believes it is no coincidence that the cases of Edward Snowden, Kim Dotcom and his own are all being tried in Alexandria, Virginia, by the same prosecutor.

The WikiLeaks founder and exiled whistleblower opened up about some connections his case has with that of Edward Snowdens and Kim Dotcoms. The concept of lawfare, he explains, is used academically to denote one acquiring new territory not with the use of military force, but by spreading ones own laws to those territories. This is something he sees as currently being done by the United States by employing a mixture of international institutions and agreements, as well as unquestioning cooperation from key allies who will not challenge it.

Apart from the prevalence of this mechanism in international relations, the WikiLeaks founder believes theres a clear indicator of this in his own case.

Theres a commonality Id like to bring up, which is Edward Snowden, I and Kim Dotcom our cases are all in Alexandria, Virginia, where we have the same prosecutor, he told Radio New Zealand in a phone interview, while holed up in Londons Ecuadorian embassy. Assange believes that if he goes to Sweden for questioning he will be extradited to the US and face WikiLeaks-connected charges there.

Its something quite interesting. Alexandria, Virginia, is picked in all national security cases. Now, Im an Australian. WikiLeaks is not a US-publishing organization so, what the hell is the United States doing trying to bring an espionage case against me? Well, you can ask yourself a similar question about what is it trying to do in relation to extraditing Kim Dotcom from New Zealand and his Hong Kong operation, Assange said.

That jurisdiction is simply picked because it has the highest density of government employees: its 5 kilometers from the center of Washington DC, it has CIA, DHS, the IRS etc. within the area, and the US brags that Alexandria, Virginia, is involved in pushing US law into more than 67 different jurisdictions. This is something in academia called 'lawfare' getting access to territory by pushing your laws into this territory, instead of your military. Its a very modern and sophisticated concept, and thats partly what the TPP is about.

Britains surveillance agency GCHQ, according to the Snowden leaks, has been spying on WikiLeaks for some time, and the NSA has had Assange on a wanted list as long ago as 2009, he claims. According to the exiled whistleblower, Australia will not move into gear where major players are involved a fact that makes him feel abandoned as an Australian citizen.

In his new book, The WikiLeaks File: the World According to the US Empire, Assange talks about countries participation in international agreements that by extension give the US increasing leeway in affairs it otherwise would have a limited or no role to play in. On top of the lucrative TPP and TISA, which are examples of the so-called lawfare, the ICC is one such example.

READ MORE: Western ISIS adventurism, Israel behind Hamas - new Assange revelations

Under Obama, Assange has seen the power of international institutions take on a more American shade, one example being the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has become a sort of lackey for Western interests.

Its more than cultures and regions theres international institutions. Its very interesting to look at the ICC as an example of how the US interfaces with the international situation, Assange said. While the ICCs role in prosecuting war criminals is clear with regard to some, the organization loses its meaning where the US is concerned.

The country was going to most countries in the world, trying to get them to sign secret bilateral agreements called Article 98 agreements to promise that those countries would never extradite someone from the US government to the International Criminal Court.

There was an intense fear under the Bush administration, because of what they were doing in relation to Iraq and the war on terror, more broadly, Assange said.

And under Obama, things shifted a bit. There was an attempt to co-opt the ICC for broader geopolitical purposes, as opposed to the narrow view of trying to protect their own skins.

Among other things, allegations by Sweden against Assange were addressed a case that has been dropped and illegally reopened, he said. The WikiLeaks founder continues to deny his guilt, saying he still faces rape allegations even when "the woman herself says that she was not raped and the police made it up, and that's in the police documentation."

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Julian Assange: Snowden, I and Kim Dotcom all assigned ...

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Caption: Julian Assange with Reverend Jesse Jackson outside the Embassy of Ecuador in London. Yui Mok/PA Wired

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Julian Assange rose to fame as the master of helping whistleblowers safely smuggle documents out of corporations and governments. Smuggling himself, however, hasnt turned out to be so easy.

A new set of leaked documents from the Ecuadorean embassy in London shows that diplomatic officials there have brainstormed methods they could help Assange escape from the embassywhere hes had asylum for more than three yearswithout being arrested by the British police that keep a 24-hour watch on the building.

But its likely that none of these escape routes were ever attempted. At the very least, none worked. Assange, who is wanted for questioning related to accusations of sex crimes in Sweden, has remained trapped in two rooms in the building. The documents show that the unnamed officials have considered everything from putting Assange in a disguise to hiding him in a diplomatic bag intended for documents. (Technically the documents refer to a valija diplomatica, a diplomatic suitcase, but in English such an item is commonly referred to as a diplomatic bag.) But they also catalogue the problems and drawbacks of each plan.

Assange could go out in disguise, attempt to cross the roof to the nearby helipad or get lost among people in [department store] Harrods, reads the Spanish-language document, titled Scenarios for a Possible Exit for Assange.

The document goes on to suggest other schemes: Assange could be given diplomatic immunity by making him an official Ecuadorean representative to the United Nations, though it warns that the General Assembly could revoke that status, leading to his arrest. The document also points out that he could be safely spirited away in a diplomatic car. Diplomats cars are protected in the same way as the diplomatic buildings by the Vienna Convention, the document notes. But it also cautions that UKs Scotland Yard has police posted throughout the building, which the embassy doesnt use exclusively. And those guards could nab Assange before he ever reached a car.

That problem seems to have led the embassy officials to consider putting Assange in a diplomatic bagat least long enough to get him into the car. But they note that the diplomatic protection around such a bag only extends to normal diplomatic documents, presumably not Australian cypherpunk asylum seekers. That means if Assange were discovered in the bag, he could still be arrested. And the document warns that UK police might have the means to detect him inside: The Police are equipped with advanced technology for detecting body heat, preventing this option. (The U.S. State Department actually interprets the Vienna Convention to forbid even electronic scans of properly designated diplomatic bags, but one containing a human might not qualify as properly designated.)

In fact, British law enforcement seems to have expressly considered the bag possibility, as well as the other diplomatic gambits. The Ecuadorean document includes photos of handwritten UK police forms held under the arm of a careless official who allowed them to be photographed from a distance. They seem to show orders for how Assanges possible escape should be managed. Assange to be arrested under all circumstance, the paper reads. He comes out with diplomatic immune, in diplomatic bagin diplomatic vehicle, arrested.

All of that seems to have foiled the Ecuadoreans plans. Assange remains trapped in the embassy, where the leaked documents note that hes had increasing tensions with the local staff. Those run-ins are detailed in this report from Buzzfeed, which first reported the Ecuadorean document leak.

Even if Assange were to escape from the embassy, theres still the question of where hed go from there. The Ecuadorean plans dont detail in these documents what would happen after Assange lost his pursuers in Harrods or drove away in a car. The plan may have been to sneak him onto a private jet to Quito. Or he might have pulled an Edward Snowden and sent his pursuers on a wild goose chase as he went to some other destination. He still could.

Assanges most realistic hope of escape, however, is probably legal, rather than physical: The Swedish government recently dropped three of the potential sex crime charges against him, though the most serious accusation of rape still stands. But even if all the Swedish accusations are dropped, Assange has said he may still remain in the Ecuadorean embassy to avoid extradition to the U.S. for potential charges related to his publication of the millions of military and diplomatic documents leaked by Army private Chelsea Manning. All of that means that Assange may not be seeing the outdoors any time soon.

See more here:
Ecuador Considered Smuggling Julian Assange to ... - WIRED

Assange sent reverberations through the international and online community with whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.

Speaking at the Latin American progressive left (ELAP) in Quito, Ecuador, Assange said that although the U.S. and United Kingdom have thrown millions of dollars at the surveillance of the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been staying since 2012, he was still able to spread information.

Despite (the police and surveillance), from this embassy, protected by Ecuador, I and WikiLeaks manage to go head to head with the most sophisticated government on earth, of the U.S. agencies, he said.

We are winning. Because secrets breed incompetency.

Assange addressed the conference via satellite link, on a round-table discussion with the theme Globalization and cyberspace, between the security of the state and the rights of citizens.

He continued by explaining that while the propaganda sector of the superstructure of the U.S. government was highly successful, the intelligence agencies were failing.

The propaganda sector within the West is so competent, the mainstream media is very efficient in achieving propaganda victories and controlling the framework of debate and engaging in character assassination and so on, he said, explaining that it was extremely efficient in terms of money spent, because their basic product is itself information and is completely public.

It is almost a perfect market, he added.

The intelligence system on the other hand has a much higher budget but has no information available to it.

Assange sent reverberations through the international and online community with whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, which fed hundreds of thousands of leaked files by former U.S. military employee, Chelsea Manning and revealed some of the U.S.s worst atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Collateral Murder, a classified U.S. military video depicting 18 civilians killed in airstrikes from a U.S. Apache helicopter in 2007 in New Baghdad, Iraq, was released by the site in 2010, beginning an avalanche of criticism against the war.

Also speaking at conference on the same theme of globalization and cyberspace was Alessandro di Battista, representative in the Italian parliament for the radical left 5 Stelle movement.

Battista explained that he, a politician with no experience, was able to win 25 percent of the vote, with 9 million Italians voting for him, spending only US$180 on his campaign. Instead of spending money, he used social media to spread his message.

(The Internet means that) we can all provide information, and above all it has liberated politics from the chains of money, he said.

The Ecuadorean constitution has taught us that freedom of information is a human right, like eating, housing, clothes, air, and water, he added.

Assange and di Battista were joined at the three-day conference by dozens of other known progressive political actors in the region, such as Colombias Piedad Cordoba and the recently released Cuban Five.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa will speak later today.

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http://www.ted.com The controversial website WikiLeaks collects and posts highly classified documents and video. Founder Julian Assange, who's reportedly being sought for questioning by US authorities, talks to TED's Chris Anderson about how the site operates, what it has accomplished -- and what drives him. The interview includes graphic footage of a recent US airstrike in Baghdad.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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