by Dr. Eowyn
Yesterday, April 11, 2019, after providing him political asylum in its embassy in London for the past 7 years, the government of Ecuador surrendered WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange, 47, to the UK police.
Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno said he had run of patience with Assange and withdrew his asylum status, describing him as an “inherited” problem from Moreno’s predecessor, former President Rafael Correa. Moreno said Assange had been “discourteous and aggressive” while inside the embassy and confronting and mistreating guards.
In a press conference, Ecuador’s Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said Correa’s government “tolerated things like Assange putting feces on the embassy walls and other behaviors far from the minimum respect that a guest can have.” (CNN)
In the past, others had also commented on Assange’s hygiene:
- Last January, Assange’s former aide Daniel Domscheit-Berg, author of Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website (2011), told International Business Times: “Julian ate everything with his hands and he always wiped his fingers on his pants. I have never seen pants as greasy as his in my whole life.”
- In 2011, New York Times former executive editor Bill Keller met Assange and described him as a “bag lady walking in off the street. He smelled as if he hadn’t bathed for days. He was alert but disheveled, like a bag lady walking in off the street, wearing a dingy, light-colored sport coat and cargo pants, dirty white shirt, beat-up sneakers and filthy white socks that collapsed around his ankles.”
From these descriptions of Assange’s lack of hygiene, it is difficult for me to imagine Hollyweird sex-pot Pamela Anderson, 51, allegedly having an affair with Assange in the embassy.
Anderson had a meltdown on Twitter over Assange’s arrest and expected extradition to the U.S. Here’s one of her tweets:
And the USA ?
This toxic coward of a President
He needs to rally his base? –
You are selfish and cruel.
You have taken the entire world backwards.You are devils and liars and thieves.
And you will ROTTAnd
WE WILL RISE ✊— Pamela Anderson (@pamfoundation) April 11, 2019
Assange was arraigned in Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday. In a quick verdict, Judge Michael Snow found Assange guilty of skipping bail in 2012 by entering the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden in a rape investigation. Assange faces up to 12 months behind bars for the conviction in the UK. His defense argued that he couldn’t expect a fair trial in Britain because the UK’s sole purpose was to “secure his delivery” to the US. (New York Post)
Wanted in the U.S. for conspiring with “transgender” Chelsea (Bradley) Manning to steal military secrets by hacking into U.S. government computers, Assange will appear in a US court via video link on May 2.
Below is the U.S. Department of Justice’s April 11, 2019 press release:
Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.
According to court documents unsealed today, the charge relates to Assange’s alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.
The indictment alleges that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet), a U.S. government network used for classified documents and communications. Manning, who had access to the computers in connection with her duties as an intelligence analyst, was using the computers to download classified records to transmit to WikiLeaks. Cracking the password would have allowed Manning to log on to the computers under a username that did not belong to her. Such a deceptive measure would have made it more difficult for investigators to determine the source of the illegal disclosures.
During the conspiracy, Manning and Assange engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning’s transmission of classified records to Assange. The discussions also reflect Assange actively encouraging Manning to provide more information. During an exchange, Manning told Assange that “after this upload, that’s all I really have got left.” To which Assange replied, “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”
Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors….
The extradition will be handled by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
WikiLeaks had played an invaluable role in the 2016 presidential elections by publishing emails of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) — probably obtained by then-DNC staffer Seth Rich whose suspicious death cries out for justice — Hillary Clinton, and her presidential campaign chairman John Podesta.
WikiLeaks‘ position has always been that, in the interest of freedom of information, it will publish documents that are sent to them. That is very different than what Assange is accused of by the DOJ, which is that Assange had actively conspired with Manning to hack into Pentagon computers to obtain classified information.
What do you think?