A judge in Ecuador has now ruled that Assange must clean up after his cat, pay for his laundry and medical bills, stop damaging the building with his soccer playing and skateboarding… and stop hacking embassy communications. The judge says that these demands do not violate his rights.
Assange has vowed to appeal. Oh, the humanity! Q. Is Assange the world’s ultimate sulky, immature teenager? has reported that
In an extraordinary breach of diplomatic protocol, Assange managed to compromise the communications system within the embassy and had his own satellite internet access, according to documents and a source who wished to remain anonymous. By penetrating the embassy’s firewall, Assange was able to access and intercept the official and personal communications of staff, the source claimed.
Well of course he was!
Assange’s world-view is that all governments hide secrets that the public has the right to know, and it’s his job to uncover those secrets.
The Ecuador Embassy is run by a government. Therefore, it has secrets which it is Assange’s duty to uncover.
All quite simple really.
Except that some governments are more equal than others.
Apparently Hilary Clinton’s emails were a far higher priority for Wikileaks in 2016 than Putin’s dealings… or Trump’s.WikiLeaks Turned Down Leaks on Russian Government During U.S. Presidential Campaign The leak organization ignored damaging information on the Kremlin to focus on Hillary Clinton and election-related hacks.
“Many Wikileaks staff and volunteers or their families suffered at the hands of Russian corruption and cruelty, we were sure Wikileaks would release it. Assange gave excuse after excuse.”
Anything not connected to the election would be “diversionary,” WikiLeaks wrote.
Wikileaks is not a neutral organisation. Assange has his own political agenda, and he is probably hoping for eventual asylum in Russia.
Maybe he can share a Kremlin flat with Edward Snowden.
GreenWyvern:
Except that some governments are more equal than others.
Apparently Hilary Clinton’s emails were a far higher priority for Wikileaks in 2016 than Putin’s dealings… or Trump’s.
WikiLeaks Turned Down Leaks on Russian Government During U.S. Presidential Campaign
The leak organization ignored damaging information on the Kremlin to focus on Hillary Clinton and election-related hacks.
Wikileaks is not a neutral organisation. Assange has his own political agenda, and he is probably hoping for eventual asylum in Russia.
Devil, work, idle hands, etc.
Julian got bored and started to investigate his hosts.
ISTM deliberately compromising the security of embassy communications would suffice, for most countries, to withdraw sanctuary and kick you to the curb. I have to believe Ecuador must worry about a potential massive cybershitstorm to hit them if they just tell Assange to go get crammed.
But his kitty!
Those nice Ecuadorians are thinking of his kitty, forced onto the harsh streets of London!
DinoR
November 13, 2018, 1:38am
248
It’s no longer a case of sanctuary. He’s a citizen of Ecuador. Revoking citizenship is generally a higher legal hurdle.
They naturalized him last December . It was part of a ploy to get him diplomatic protection so he could then travel to the airport without being arrested. The UK chose not to recognize him as a diplomat.
I’m sure it sounded like a good plan :D.
JRDelirious:
ISTM deliberately compromising the security of embassy communications would suffice, for most countries, to withdraw sanctuary and kick you to the curb. I have to believe Ecuador must worry about a potential massive cybershitstorm to hit them if they just tell Assange to go get crammed.
Now here they are - caught between Wikileaks/Russia and USA/UK. They really didn’t think this one through at all.
DinoR:
It’s no longer a case of sanctuary. He’s a citizen of Ecuador. Revoking citizenship is generally a higher legal hurdle.
They naturalized him last December . It was part of a ploy to get him diplomatic protection so he could then travel to the airport without being arrested. The UK chose not to recognize him as a diplomat.
I’m sure it sounded like a good plan :D.
Because of course they never heard of the host nation declining to recognize a credential… wow.
DinoR
November 14, 2018, 12:58am
252
Annual performance evaluations for the involved civil service folks at the embassy had to be fun this year.
“How badly did you get Assanged in your review?”
“I didn’t join the Ecuadorian Diplomatic Corps to get peed on by the Ambassador and some Aussie squatter’s cat.”
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, per the Washington Post .
The disclosure came in a filing in a case unrelated to Assange. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer, urging a judge to keep the matter sealed, wrote that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged.” Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would “need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.”
D’oh!
ROFL 😄
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!
I bet he’s feline worried now!
CarnalK
November 16, 2018, 3:25pm
260
I would have thought that hacking the embassy’s network would provide a sufficient “out” for the Equadorians. No one would blame them for kicking him out now.
Sage_Rat:
Based on a more recent Lawfare post, it seems that the US doesn’t actually have any criminal charge assigned to Assange, and potentially he’s saved from anything by First Amendment laws, so the whole question may be irrelevant. There are some options to try and get him, but none is a slam dunk and there’s no knowing whether we’ll actually try to charge him at the moment.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/if-assange-leaves-ecuadorian-embassy-what-next
Uh, yeah the idea that there was a sealed indictment was sooooo crazy.
