Swedish man jailed in Ecuador over alleged WikiLeaks involvement

Authorities investigating whether Ola Bini was working with WikiLeaks and Assange as part of attempt to ‘destabilise’ Ecuador


A judge in Ecuador has jailed a Swedish software developer whom authorities believe is a key member of WikiLeaks and close to Julian Assange, while prosecutors investigate charging him with hacking as part of an alleged plot to “destabilise” the country’s government.

Ola Bini, 36, was ordered to held in preventive detention on Saturday pending possible cyber-attack charges and his bank accounts were frozen. Prosecutors were examining dozens of hard drives and other material he had in his possession, according to local media reports.

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Give priority to Julian Assange rape claim, home secretary urged

Letters to Sajid Javid and Diane Abbott call for attention to focus on any Swedish case

Political pressure is mounting on Sajid Javid to prioritise action that would allow Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden, amid concerns that US charges relating to Wikileaks’ activities risked overshadowing longstanding allegations of rape.

More than 70 MPs and peers have written to Javid and the shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, urging them to focus attention on the earlier Swedish investigations that Assange would face should the case be resumed at the alleged victim’s request.

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Hillary Clinton: ‘Julian Assange must answer for what he has done’ – video

Hillary Clinton told an event in New York that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's dramatic arrest on Wednesday was not about 'punishing journalism', but holding him to account for the hacking charges against him. The Australian is charged by the US with conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer network with whistleblower Chelsea Manning. WikiLeaks released a cache of hacked Democratic party emails that embarrassed Clinton's campaign during the 2016 presidential election

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Lawyers doubt Julian Assange will ever stand trial in Sweden

Former prosecutor says it would be ‘uphill task’ even if rape inquiry is reopened

Swedish lawyers have said they doubt Julian Assange will ever stand trial in Sweden even if prosecutors decide to reopen an investigation into a rape accusation.

The WikiLeaks founder was arrested in London on Thursday after being dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy, where he had stayed since 2012 in order to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations, which he has always denied.

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Julian Assange faces US extradition after arrest at Ecuadorian embassy

WikiLeaks founder’s removal from London embassy brings seven-year diplomatic stalemate to an end

Julian Assange is facing extradition to the United States and up to five years in prison after he was forcibly dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday, bringing an extraordinary seven-year diplomatic stalemate to an end.

After 2,487 days in the embassy, the 47-year-old was arrested after Ecuador revoked his political asylum and invited Metropolitan police officers inside their Knightsbridge premises, where he has stayed since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations which Assange has always denied.

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How Donald Trump spoke about WikiLeaks during 2016 presidential campaign – video report

After WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday, Donald Trump claimed not to know anything about WikiLeaks and that it's 'not his thing'. The US president frequently praised the organisation during the 2016 presidential campaign when WikiLeaks published emails stolen from Democratic National Convention servers and Hillary Clinton's campaign.

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‘Rude, ungrateful and meddling’: why Ecuador turned on Assange

Minister lists reasons for Assange’s eviction from London embassy, including threats, skateboarding and health concerns

Ecuador’s decision to allow police to arrest Julian Assange inside its embassy on Thursday followed a fraught and acrimonious period in which relations between the government in Quito and the WikiLeaks founder became increasingly hostile.

In a presentation before Ecuador’s parliament on Thursday, the foreign minister, José Valencia, set out nine reasons why Assange’s asylum had been withdrawn. The list ranged from meddling in Ecuador’s relations with other countries to having to “put up with his rudeness” for nearly seven years.

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Julian Assange ‘further arrested’ on behalf of the US after extradition request, police say – live updates

Assange arrested following the withdrawal of asylum by the Ecuadorian government


Assange gave photographers a thumbs up as he was driven a way in a police van from the embassy.

A scuffle broke out outside the Ecuadorian embassy between embassy security and a reporter from Chile’s el Ciudadano who tried to challenge the ambassador as he was taken into a car.

Patricio Mary, the reporter, said he had wanted to ask ambassador, Jaime Martín, about promises he had made to respect Assange’s asylum.

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Spanish police ‘recover Julian Assange surveillance footage’

Material that originated from Ecuadorian embassy was reportedly offered for sale

WikiLeaks has said it has uncovered a surveillance operation against Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy and that images, documents and videos gathered have been offered for sale.

Spanish police were said to have mounted a sting operation against unnamed individuals in Madrid who offered the material for sale in what lawyers and colleagues of Assange said on Wednesday was an attempt at extortion.

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Julian Assange has ‘repeatedly violated’ asylum terms, Ecuador’s president says

Lenín Moreno said ‘photos of my bedroom’ and his family were circulated online but did not directly accuse WikiLeaks founder

Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, has said the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had “repeatedly violated” the conditions of his asylum in the country’s London embassy, where he has lived for close to seven years.

Speaking to the Ecuadorean radio broadcasters association on Tuesday, Moreno said under the terms of his asylum “Assange cannot lie or, much less, hack into private accounts or private phones” and he could not “intervene in the politics of countries, or worse friendly countries”.

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Chelsea Manning jailed for refusing to testify to grand jury in WikiLeaks case

  • Judge Claude Hilton orders Manning to jail after brief hearing
  • Manning says she objects to secrecy of grand jury process

The former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.

Related: ‘I spent seven years fighting to survive’: Chelsea Manning on whistleblowing and WikiLeaks

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Newly published files confirm plan to move Assange to…

Newly released Ecuadorean government documents have laid bare an unorthodox attempt to extricate the WikiLeaks founder from his embassy hideaway in London by naming him as a political counselor to the country's embassy in Moscow. But the 47-year-old Australian's new career in international affairs was nipped in the bud when British authorities vetoed his diplomatic status, effectively blocking him from taking up his new post in Russia.

UK and Ecuador – seeking end to Assange stand-off’

Ecuador's president says his country and the United Kingdom are working on a legal solution for Julian Assange that would allow the Wikileaks founder to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in "the medium term". President Lenin Moreno told The Associated Press that Mr Assange's lawyers are aware of the negotiations.

Exclusive: WikiLeaks docs show Assange bid for Russian visa

This document obtained by The Associated Press shows a letter to the Russian Consulate in London dated Nov. 30, 2010. Although it isna sA A t clear whether the missive was actually delivered to the consulate, it does show that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought a Russian visa as authorities were closing in on him in the wake of his publication of U.S. State Department cables.

WikiLeaks documents show Julian Assange’s bid for Russian visa

London: Julian Assange had just pulled off one of the biggest scoops in journalistic history, splaying the innards of American diplomacy across the web. But technology firms were cutting ties to his website, WikiLeaks, cable news pundits were calling for his head and a Swedish sex crime case was threatening to put him behind bars.

Charges undermine Assange denials about hacked email origins

At the beginning of 2017, one of Julian Assange's biggest media boosters traveled to the WikiLeaks founder's refuge inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London and asked him where he got the leaks that shook up the U.S. presidential election only months earlier. Fox News host Sean Hannity pointed straight to the purloined emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.

Mike Pence urged by Democrats to discuss Julian Assange’s asylum status during Ecuador trip

Lawmakers pressed Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday to raise concerns while in Ecuador this week about the country's decision to continue shielding WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange , a resident of its London embassy for the past six years. A group of 10 senators, all Democrats, wrote Mr. Pence urging him to discuss Mr. Assange 's asylum status during his meeting with Ecuadorian President Lenn Moreno.