Wikileaks - Julian Assange Discussion

Ecuador is seeking a “third country or a personality” to mediate a final settlement with Britain to resolve the future of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

Ecuador seeks mediator to resolve ‘untenable’ Assange standoff: minister Tuesday 9 January 2018
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1222411/world

Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said the South American country was “considering and exploring the possibility of mediation” to end the “untenable” five-year impasse.

Assange moved into Ecuador’s embassy in London in 2012 to avoid arrest over now-dropped Swedish rape charges. He remains over fears he will be extradited to the United States and put on trial for WikiLeaks publishing leaked secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010.

“No solution will be achieved without international cooperation and the cooperation of the United Kingdom, which has also shown interest in seeking a way out,” she told foreign correspondents in Quito.

It is the first time Ecuador has proposed mediation to resolve the case.

Swedish prosecutors initially wanted Assange extradited to face the sexual assault allegations, but they dropped their investigation into him in May 2017. However, he still faces arrest by British police for violating the terms of his 2012 bail.


WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been sheltered in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for five years, may be thrown out of his asylum after pushing Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno over the edge.

The Last Straw: Assange at Risk of Being Kicked Out of Ecuador Embassy in UK
https://sputniknews.com/world/201801101060630795-assange-ecuador-embassy/

Assange has been holed up in the diplomatic building in London's wealthy Knightsbridge neighborhood since 2012, when he was granted political asylum by Ecuador following sex assault allegations in Sweden, which he has consistently denied.

Although the case against him was later dropped, the Australian remained inside the embassy over fears he'd be extradited to the US in connection with WikiLeaks' release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But now Assange has apparently drawn the wrath of the South American country's president, and Ecuador is seeking out a third country or individual to mediate his safe passage from its embassy in the United Kingdom.

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa told teleSUR on Thursday that the country was considering settling the matter through third-party negotiators, describing Assange's current living arrangements as "untenable."

"No solution will be achieved without international cooperation and the cooperation of the United Kingdom, which has also shown interest in seeking a way out," the foreign minister reportedly said.

Ecuador's decision could have been influenced by Assange's criticism of Moreno's overseas allies and his support of the Catalan independence movement on social media.

Moreno had previously called on the WikiLeaks founder to "respect the situation he is in," avoid "intervening in the politics" of countries friendly to Ecuador and making controversial and inflammatory political statements.

"We have reminded Mr. Assange that he has no reason to interfere in Ecuadorian politics because his status does not allow it," the president said in an interview with El Pais. "Nor in that of nations that are our friends. He does not have the right to do so and he has committed himself to this."

But the outspoken Australian hit back on Twitter in September 2017, saying, "if President Moreno wants to gag my reporting of human rights abuses in Spain he should say so explicitly — together with the legal basis."
 
Exposed: Wikileaks Is A Zionist Cover-Up Operation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASpiOZ4b7y0 (12:19 min.)

Published on Oct 27, 2016

Does Wikileaks work in the interests of humanity or the illegal state of Israel? Decide for yourself, in this tell-all about Julian Assange. A special thanks to Jonathan Azaziah, who originally wrote the text for 'Mark Of Zion: Wikileaks Is Zionist Posion', written 6 years ago and perhaps more appropriate now then ever before. A special Thanks to Snordster, who tried to get this message out to youtubers and got himself banned a couple of times. Almost all the Audio and the entirety of the Narration is done so by Snordster.
 
According to El Universo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been issued an Ecuadorian passport and a citizenship card that corresponds to the province of Pichincha.

WikiLeaks Founder Assange Granted Ecuadorian Passport - Reports
https://sputniknews.com/world/201801101060658881-assange-ecuador-passport/

Per the outlet, Assange was given the passport on December 21, 2017. The report has yet to be confirmed by officials from Ecuador.

The Australian tweeted an image of himself wearing Ecuador's national soccer jersey an hour before news regarding the passport broke Wednesday.

​This follows recent reports that suggested Assange was going to be evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy in London after pushing President Lenin Moreno "over the edge."

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa told teleSUR Thursday that officials were seeking a third-party negotiator to mediate Assange's safe passage from their UK embassy. Espinosa called Assange's living arrangements "untenable."

Though it is unclear, talk of Assange's eviction is speculated to have been sparked by his criticism of Moreno's allies and his support of the Catalan independence movement.

We have reminded Mr. Assange that he has no reason to interfere in Ecuadorian politics because his status does not allow it," the president said in an interview with El Pais. "Nor in that of nations that are our friends. He does not have the right to do so and he has committed himself to this."

Assange later responded to Moreno by saying that "if President Moreno wants to gag my reporting of human rights abuses in Spain he should say so explicitly — together with the legal basis."

The 46-year-old founder has been a tenant at Ecuador's embassy since 2012 when he was granted asylum by Ecuador following sexual assault allegations. Though the charges were ultimately dropped, Assange continued to stay at the embassy over fears he would be extradited to the US in connection with WikiLeaks' release of military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.


The United Kingdom has dismissed a request from the Ecuadorian government to grant Julian Assange diplomatic status, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said amid reports that the founder of the WikiLeaks website may have received Ecuadorian citizenship.

UK Refuses to Grant Assange Diplomatic Status - Foreign Office
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201801111060665636-assange-diplomatic-status/

"The government of Ecuador recently requested diplomatic status for Mr. Assange here in the UK. The UK did not grant that request, nor are we in talks with Ecuador on this matter. Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper.

The news comes in wake of the El Comercio news outlet's report published on January 10, regarding the number of an identity document, registered in the Ecuadorian Civil Registration System under Assange's name.

However, the reports circulating in media have been insisting that the whistleblower could be expelled from the embassy because he drove President Lenin Moreno "over the edge."

The South American country has been seeking a third party to resolve the situation around Assange, this position was voiced by Ecuador's Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa on January 9, who stressed that Ecuador would continue providing support to the whistleblower.

Assange has been living in Ecuador's London since being given political asylum in 2012. In 2010, Swedish authorities began an investigation into rape allegedly committed by the whistleblower, who resisted being questioned in Sweden for fear that he might be extradited to the United States over his whistleblowing organization's exposure of classified documents.
 
The second developer to take over the WikiLeaks inspired SecureDrop project has killed himself just like the first one did.

Second WikiLeaks-Inspired “SecureDrop” Developer Commits Suicide Just Like His Predecessor
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-10/second-developer-wikileaks-inspired-securedrop-commits-suicide-36

A second member of a three-man team who created a secure system for whistleblowers to submit information to news outlets has committed suicide at the age of 36, reports the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Software engineer James Dolan took his own life nearly five years to the day after the death of “SecureDrop” co-creator and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz.

Dolan, a former Marine, helped create the system in 2012 along with Swartz and Wired editor Kevin Poulsen – who spearheaded the project first known as “StrongBox” and later “DeadDrop.” The trio’s secure submission system has been used by The New Yorker, the Washington Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press and Gizmodo – allowing “highly secure communication between journalists and sources in possession of sensitive information or documents,” per Gizmodo.

Co-creator Kevin Poulsen described Dolan’s role in the project’s creation in the New Yorker in 2013:

In New York, a computer-security expert named James Dolan persuaded a trio of his industry colleagues to meet with Aaron to review the architecture and, later, the code. We wanted to be reasonably confident that the system wouldn’t be compromised, and that sources would be able to submit documents anonymously—so that even the media outlets receiving the materials wouldn’t be able to tell the government where they came from. James wrote an obsessively detailed step-by-step security guide for organizations implementing the code. “He goes a little overboard,” Aaron said in an e-mail, “but maybe that’s not a bad thing.”

Co-creator Aaron Swartz committed suicide on January 11, 2013 at the age of 26. Swartz left no suicide note in his New York apartment, however some have noted that he was depressed and was facing jail time under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for hacking into MIT’s computer network and stealing copies of 4.8 million academic papers.

Swartz’s father believes the government “indirectly killed” Swartz, while his girlfriend at the time, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman think Swartz was driven to suicide by a two-year prosecution over the MIT hacking case which had “drained all of his financial resources” – despite not fitting any of the signs of clinical depression and associated disorders.

After Swartz’s death, co-creator Kevin Poulsen donated the SecureDrop project to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, while James Dolan was “literally the only person in the world who knew all the ins and outs of the system, how to install it, and how to make it better” according to the FPF.

He had a high-paying computer security job at a large company by then, but I asked him if he’d be willing to come work for us so we could try to get SecureDrop into more newsrooms. We had hardly any money at the time, yet he immediately agreed—even though it meant taking an 80% pay cut. (Later, he would even refuse to accept a raise, insisting that we use any new funding to hire additional people to work on the project instead.)

In a tribute post, the Freedom of the Press Foundation said that Dolan had “long suffered from PTSD from his time serving in the Marines during the Iraq war,” adding “It was an experience that affected him in multiple ways. He often cited the Iraq War as his inspiration for wanting to help journalists and whistleblowers; it made him realize governments needed to be much more transparent and accountable.”

Dolan’s friends and supporters were heartbroken over Twitter:

Timm, FPF’s Executive Director, wrote: “It is impossible to overstate how fundamentally important James Dolan was to the development of both Freedom of the Press Foundation and SecureDrop.”
 
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks website that blew the whistle on US war atrocities in Iraq, has been dangerously affected by his confinement to the Ecuadorian embassy, doctors who examined him said.

Doctors Raise Alarm Over Assange’s Health After Years of Confinement
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201801251061047389-assange-health-danger/

In a letter published in the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, Boston University’s physician Sondra Crosby and London-based clinical psychologist Brock Chisholm warned that his physical and mental health were at risk after conducting the most recent exam last October.

"While the results of the evaluation are protected by doctor-patient confidentiality, it is our professional opinion that his continued confinement is dangerous physically and mentally to him and a clear infringement of his human right to healthcare," they said.

Ecuador granted Assange, who has been sheltering at its embassy in London since summer 2012, citizenship earlier this month in an effort to end what the United Nations deems an arbitrary detention.

He faces arrest by UK police if he ventures out for breaching bail conditions, although charges against him have long been dropped. The activist fears extradition to the United States where he is wanted for leaking the damning Iraq War logs.


In an interview the president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, stated that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is an "inherited problem" that has created "more than a nuisance" for his government.

Assange a 'Problem' That Created 'More Than a Nuisance' - Ecuador President
https://sputniknews.com/world/201801221060950003-julian-assange-ecuador-president/

"We hope to have a positive result in the short term," Lenin Moreno said in an interview with television networks.

Ecuador wanted to resolve the Assange issue, so the Australian whistleblower was "granted Ecuadorian citizenship and a diplomatic rank so that he could leave the territory of the embassy" in London, Moreno said.

The problem persists," the Ecuadorian president said, pointing out that the country's Foreign Ministry intends to solve it "using the mediation of important people." The head of state assured that their names will soon be made public. The Ecuadorian government wants to see a "positive result" with Assange in a short time, Moreno added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador officially confirmed that the authorities granted citizenship to Julian Assange.

According to El Universo, the number of his passport is listed in the relevant databases. This is confirmed on the website of the Internal Revenue Service, where the specified number corresponds to a person named Julian Paul Assange. According to the publication, citizenship was granted to him on December 21.

Ecuador's foreign minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said that she fears that third party states may threaten Julian Assange's life. She added that Assange won't leave Ecuador's Embassy in UK because there are no security guaranties.

Julian Assange lives in the embassy building since 2012. At that time, he asked the Ecuadorian authorities to grant him political asylum. Assange's main concern is that Sweden could deport him to the United States, where the Australian faces up to 35 years in prison or the death penalty for publishing classified US State Department documents.
 
RyanX said:
Brewer said:
Did some research Anna Ardin.

One of Assange's accusers.

Turns out she's an academic feminist. Read radical feminist, look it up, her friend is the other accuser, her name is Sofia Wileks

Whatever Wikileaks is or are.

Feminism is one of the handmaidens of Totalitarianism.

Do the research

Knowledge protects.

Hi Brewer,

Where is the data to back up this assertion? What you say here could be true, but there are a lot of nuances to "feminism"; and without specific quotes it is easy to misjudge somebody, OSIT.

Also, asking somebody to "Do the research" isn't very Externally Considerate. Many of us here do research, but we don't have the time or capacity to research every single topic or tangent. That's why a brief synopsis of whatever research you've done would be more helpful than just a few sentences that basically say a = b = c.

Hello, wrote this seven years ago. When I joined the forum I noticed that two obvious programs were largely ignored, feminism being one of them. Now I regularly see articles highly critical of feminism on SOTT. The other program is beginning to get an airing now. Thank you.
 
In 2010, Sweden began an investigation into rape allegedly committed by Assange. Since being granted political asylum by Ecuador in 2012, Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

UK 'Secretly Bullied' Sweden Into Detaining Assange for 'Another 4 Years'
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201802121061570011-assange-extradition-pressure-sweden-britain/

Swedish prosecutors tried to drop extradition proceedings against Julian Assange as early as 2013, according to a confidential exchange of emails with British prosecutors, the Guardian has reported.

As is evident from the newly-released emails, Sweden was prepared to give up the case against Assange, but Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insisted that the case remain alive.

In an October 18, 2013 email to the CPS, Swedish director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, argued that “There is a demand in Swedish law for coercive measures to be proportionate.”

She added that, given the need to take into account the passage of time, the costs of the criminal proceedings “the intrusion or detriment to the suspect […] we have found us to be obliged to lift the detention order and to withdraw the European arrest warrant.”

Julian Assange ⌛ @JulianAssange

UK secretly bullied Sweden into pointlessly detaining me without charge for another four years after it decided to drop its arrest warrant. https://twitter.com/GuardianAus/status/962742594676588544 … 10:31 PM - Feb 11, 2018

For several years, London police maintained round-the-clock surveillance of the Ecuadorian embassy at a cost of at least £11 million ($15.2 million).

The founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website was wanted in Sweden on charges of sexual assault and rape allegedly committed in 2010.

Shortly after Assange, who denies the charges brought against him, traveled to Britain later that same year, and the Swedish authorities demanded his extradition.

In 2012, to avoid extradition to Sweden, Julian Assange jumped bail and requested asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has stayed ever since even though last year Sweden announced it had dropped its warrant to arrest him.

He can still be arrested for violating his bail conditions in Britain if he leaves the Ecuadorian mission though. Assange has also voiced fears that the US could seek his extradition and that there is a sealed US indictment ordering his arrest.

WikiLeaks’ publications have included hundreds of thousands of US army war logs, State Department diplomatic cables and emails from the Democratic National Committee during the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election.

In May 2017, the US Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, said that Assange’s arrest was now a “priority.”
 
The Westminster Magistrates Court in London decided to uphold the arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

London Court Upholds Assange's Arrest Warrant
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201802131061621557-assange-arrest-warrant-london-court/

A British judge has left unchanged an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent more than five years trapped inside Ecuador's London embassy.

"On the one hand, a person did not appear in court, on the other hand, he can not get out of a small apartment and loses his health. He must appear in court and defend his position", Judge Emma Arbuthnot stated.

Judge Arbuthnot said she finds "arrest is a proportionate response" to Assange's actions.

The judge wasn't persuaded by Assange's lawyers' statements that there was no public interest in arresting him for jumping bail in 2012 and seeking shelter in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors were investigating allegations of sexual assault and rape made by two women. He denied the allegations.

Thus, Assange lost a legal bid on Tuesday to convince the British authorities not to pursue any further action against him for breaching his warrant conditions when he walked into the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012.

Even if the judge lifts the British arrest warrant, Assange's legal problems will not be over. He suspects there is a secret US grand jury indictment against him for WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents, and that American authorities will seek his extradition.


Arrest warrant upheld in Julian Assange case, new hearing on February 13
https://www.rt.com/uk/418009-assange-arrest-warrant-ruling/


An arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not be dropped, a British judge has ruled. His lawyers had argued it was no longer in the public interest to arrest him.

Julian Assange loses bid to have his UK arrest warrant dropped
https://www.rt.com/uk/418675-julian-assange-arrest-warrant/

Assange has spent more than five and a half years living in a single room inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He took refuge in the building in a bid to avoid extradition to the US over his role in publishing leaked diplomatic and military records.

The Wikileaks founder was wanted in Sweden for a rape investigation when he sought protection in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012. Swedish prosecutors dropped the investigation last year, but the British warrant for violating bail conditions still stood.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot struck down all five points put forward by his lawyers, stating she doesn't think Assange’s fears he would have been extradited from Sweden to the US are “reasonable.”

She added that the UN working group on arbitrary detention was “quite wrong” regarding his conditions. “There is a distinction between living in Wandsworth prison and in the Embassy,” the judge said.

“I do not consider 550 days on bail a deprivation, it was his own choice to live in the Embassy. He can leave whenever he wishes, has endless visitors, chooses his food, can sit on the balcony to have air, he is not locked in.”

Restrictions on his freedom are lawful and proportionate, and cannot be criticized,” the judge added.

The judge said Assange’s health problems “could have been a lot worse.” Assange responded by tweeting: “Pulling security to get me safely on the balcony turns to this.”

Arbuthnot added: “[Assange] feel like he is above the law. His failure to surrender has impacted the course of justice. He should have the courage to come to court.”

Last week, Arbuthnot said she was “not persuaded” the remaining arrest warrant for Assange should be dropped.

Assange’s lawyers said five and a half years in the embassy has been punishment enough.

Critics say Assange’s detention is self-imposed and that he should have long faced trial. He believes that if he hadn’t fled the authorities, he would have been extradited to the US to face an unfair trial for his work, which he believes is essentially not different from investigative journalism. He fears there may be a sealed arrest warrant for him in the US and that if he is arrested in Britain, it would be unsealed and used to hand him over to the American authorities.

In December, Assange received Ecuadorian citizenship, but the UK indicated it would not recognize his diplomatic status if requested by the Latin American nation. Having diplomatic immunity would allow the fugitive to safely leave British soil. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
 
Kim Dotcom and other Assange supporters have called on people to gather outside the country's embassy in London, to force authorities to restore the internet connection for the WikiLeaks founder.

Ecuador Government Strips Assange of Internet Access, Outside Communications 28.03.2018
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201803281062999610-assange-internet-connection-cut/

The government of Ecuador said on Wednesday that it had switched off outside communications for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently staying at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The government of Ecuador has suspended the systems that allow Julian Assange to communicate to the outside of the Ecuador embassy in London… The measure was adopted due to Assange not complying with a written promise which he made with the government in late 2017, by which he was obliged not to send messages which entailed interference in relation to other states," the government said in a statement.

Assange allegedly posted his latest tweet before the announced disconnection on Tuesday, March 27, responding to an insult during a question and answer session in the UK House of Commons.

Assange's Supporters Call on People to Gather Around Embassy - Kim Dotcom, a former owner of the largest file-sharing company Megaupload, has earlier reported that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has had his internet connection cut off in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he is currently located. He urged Assange's supporters to gather outside the embassy.

Following this call, former Greek Minister of Finance Ioannis Varoufakis has also urged people to rally around the embassy to force authorities to restore his internet connection.

No official statement or any other information has been issued either by Assange himself or by the WikiLeaks so far.

Kim Dotcom
✔ @KimDotcom

URGENT ASSANGE ALERT

Julian Assange has had his Internet disconnected and is not allowed any visitors

If you’re in LONDON please gather immediately outside the Ecuadorian Embassy

Demand “Reconnect Julian”
Until Julian is back online
Thank you

URGENT ASSANGE ALERT 11:12 AM - Mar 28, 2018


Twitter users stood up in defense of Julian Assange, who has been cut off from internet access and communications by Ecuadorian officials.

‘Speaks Truth’: Twitter Users Come to Assange’s Defense After Internet Shut Off 29.03.2018
https://sputniknews.com/world/201803291063011591-assange-twitter-internet-connection-reaction/

Many Twitter users shouted out in defense of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is isolated in the Embassy of Ecuador. He can't read their support, of course, since the government of Ecuador announced Wednesday that it has shut down Assange's internet connection and other means of outside communication.

The Twitter posts, united by hashtag #ReconnectJulian, demand that Ecuador restore Assange's internet connection.

A Tweet by Caitlin Johnstone says Ecuador's decision double-crosses the idea of political asylum, as Assange has been given asylum for "speaking truth using the internet" in the first place.

​Kim Dotcom, a self-professed longtime Assange supporter, addressed Ecuador's government directly, praising Ecuador's commitment to provide Assange with shelter for years, but saying it is committing a "grave mistake" now.

Following Kim's lead, many users addressed Ecuador's president, Lenin Moreno, directly.

​As for comments, it appears that the tweets gained significant support, with critics calling Assange a "traitor" and, most surprisingly, "Russian," being in minority.
 
WikiLeaks' founder has being deprived of Internet access shortly after replying to an insult delivered by a British Foreign Office minister, who demanded that the former surrender to UK authorities.

Assange Cut Off From Internet After UK Minister Calls Him 'Miserable Worm' 29.03.2018
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201803291063025076-minister-insult-communications-block/

Speaking during a question and answer session in the UK House of Commons, the Foreign Office Minister for Europe and the Americas Alan Duncan blasted Julian Assange for tweets in which the former criticized the timing of "Russian diplomatic expulsions."

Julian Assange ⌛ @JulianAssange

(1/3) The manner of and timing of Russian diplomatic expulsions is poor diplomacy. The expulsions occurred 12 hours after one of the worst building fires in post Soviet history, which killed at least 64. Russians will see the timing as gratuitous.

4:28 PM - Mar 26, 2018

​When asked to take action against Assange, who has remained in the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain since June 2012, Duncan said it’s about time that he gives himself up to British authorities, according to media reports.

"It is of great regret that Julian Assange remains in the Ecuador embassy. It is of even deeper regret that even last night he was tweeting against Her Majesty's government for their conduct in replying to the attack in Salisbury. It's about time that this miserable little worm walked out of the embassy and gave himself up to British justice," he said.

In response, Assange tweeted that he indeed must be miserable due to being "a political prisoner, detained without charge for 8 years", and that it is better to be a worm, "a healthy creature that invigorates the soil," than a snake.

Shortly afterwards, however, the WikiLeaks founder had his outside communications switched off by the government of Ecuador, which stated that it was done “due to Assange not complying with a written promise which he made with the government in late 2017, by which he was obliged not to send messages which entailed interference in relations with other states.”
 
10 May, 2018 - Ecuador’s new rules ban Assange from taking visitors and phone calls – WikiLeaks
Ecuador’s new rules ban Assange from taking visitors and phone calls – WikiLeaks

Julian Assange has been hit with new rules limiting his communications by officials at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The new measures include bans on using the phone and having visitors, according to WikiLeaks.

The founder of the whistleblowing website has reportedly found himself isolated within the embassy recently. In March, he had his internet access curtailed after taking to Twitter to criticize Britain’s response to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, as well as repeated comments about Spain’s dispute with Catalonia. At the time, the Ecuadorian government said Assange had breached a written commitment “not to issue messages that might interfere with other states.”

Speaking with the foreign press Wednesday, Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa confirmed that Assange was still being denied internet access while talks between the UK and Ecuador to decide on his fate are still ongoing.

"He still has no access to the Internet and communications. There is a dialogue, there is a will and an interest to move forward in the solution of that matter," he said, according to El Tiempo.

WikiLeaks claims Assange has been silenced because of pressure from the US. The website also says the description of the measures as a “social media ban” undersells the extent to which he’s being held “incommunicado.”
 
13.05.2018 - Ecuador Prepares to Hand Julian Assange Over to UK, US - Reports
Ecuador Prepares to Hand Julian Assange Over to UK, US - Reports

More than six years after Julian Assange moved himself into the confines of the Ecuadorian embassy building in London, the WikiLeaks founder finds himself in danger again.

Remarks made earlier this week by Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa suggest that her government may be depriving Assange of the political asylum it granted him in in 2012 and hand him over to British and then US authorities, the World Socialist Website wrote on Saturday.

In an interview on Wednesday, Espinosa said that the Ecuadorian government and Britain “have the intention and the interest that this be resolved.”

She added that the two sides were working to reach a “definite agreement” on Assange.

In March, the Ecuadorian government cut Assange’s phone and Internet contact with the outside world and barred his friends and supporters from visiting him.

The Ecuadorian authorities explained their action by stating that “Assange’s behavior, through his messages on social media, put at risk good relations this country has with the UK, the rest of the EU and other nations.”

If Assange is handed over to the British authorities, they could eventually extradite him to the United States to face prosecution over Wikileaks’ publication of leaked US military and diplomatic documents.

Last year, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated that putting Assange on trial for espionage was a “priority” and then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, now secretary of state, asserted that WikiLeaks was a “non-state hostile intelligence service.”

In 2010, WikiLeaks published information leaked by US soldier Bradley Manning that exposed war crimes committed by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.
 
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16.05.2018 - Ecuador Spends some $5 Min to Protect WikiLeaks' Assange - Reports
Ecuador Spends Some $5Mln to Protect WikiLeaks' Assange - Reports

Ecuador spent at least $5 million on a spy operation to support and protect WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in its embassy in London, media reported.

Documents seen by The Guardian newspaper revealed that millions were put into a secret intelligence operation, dubbed "Operation Guest," and employing undercover agents to monitor Assange's visitors, embassy employees and the UK police.

Moreover, a joint investigation by The Guardian and the Focus Ecuador media outlet showed citing sources that the operation had been approved by former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and former Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino.

According to the newspaper, the security team also recorded the WikiLeaks founder's daily activities in minute detail, as well as his interactions with Ecuador's embassy staff and other visitors.


16.05.2018 - US Officials Name Vault 7 Suspect, Still Lack Sufficient Evidence to Charge Him
US Officials Name Vault 7 Suspect, Still Lack Sufficient Evidence to Charge Him

The identity of the suspected Vault 7 leaker, which detailed the capabilities of US intelligence agencies to manipulate everyday technologies, was revealed to be 29-year-old Joshua Schulte, a former CIA software engineer who designed malware that could break into the computers of suspected terrorists, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

There's one problem, though: investigators haven't been able to collect enough evidence to file charges against Schulte despite having searched his apartment and confiscated his personal computer and notes.

According to the New York Times, FBI agents obtained a warrant to search Schulte's apartment in March 2017, a week after WikiLeaks released the first batch of Vault 7 documents, which highlighted how the CIA tapped into iPhones and smart TVs and turned them into surveillance devices.

Instead of charging Schulte for the leak, prosecutors ended up charging him in August 2017 with possessing, receiving and transporting child pornography after investigators stated they'd found porn content on a server he'd created in 2009. Though he was released a month later in September, Schulte wound up back behind bars by December after violating the rules of his release.

"Those search warrants haven't yielded anything that is consistent with [Schulte's] involvement in that disclosure," Matthew Laroche, an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York, said in a January hearing regarding the Vault 7 case.

The Post reported Laroche saying at the time that the investigation was still "ongoing" and that the CIA employee was still a "target."

Schulte has pleaded not guilty to the child porn charges and stated that anywhere from 50 to 100 people had access to the server he'd created in 2009 as a way to share movies and other digital files, according to the publication.

The imprisoned software engineer told the outlet in a statement that he'd been blamed for the leaks because he'd reported "incompetent management and bureaucracy" at the CIA to the inspector general. This, he alleges, made him appear as a disgruntled employee when he left the spy agency in 2016.

"Due to these unfortunate coincidences the FBI ultimately made the snap judgement that I was guilty of the leaks and targeted me," Schulte told the Post for the story published Tuesday.

With Schulte's lawyers demanding prosecutors come to a decision on Vault 7 charges, officials indicated last week that they'd be filing a new indictment in the next 45 days, the Times stated.

"This case has been dragging since August 2017," Sabrina Shroff, Schulte's lawyer, told the outlet. "The government should be required to indict so Mr. Schulte has the opportunity to defend himself. Otherwise he is just languishing."

Schulte is currently being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.


May 16, 2018 - Vault 7 Why the CIA sought to get IP-addresses of Russia's Interior Ministry
'Vault 7': Why the CIA Sought to Get IP-Addresses of Russia's Interior Ministry

ikiLeaks, a whistleblowing website, recently published a massive trove of documents from the CIA, code-named Vault 7. The leaks contain an archive of hacking tools used by the US intelligence agency.
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A program created by the CIA, called "Weeping Angel", can wiretap private homes by gaining access to smart TVs
Walls Have Ears
The diversity of hacking instruments at the CIA's disposal is outstanding. Among them are malware and remote control over Microsoft Windows-powered computers. Devices powered by iOS are also vulnerable, including the iPhone and the iPad. Calls, messages, emails and photographs on Android devices are also exposed to tracing and control.
Moreover, the CIA's Embedded Devices Branch (EDB) and the British MI5/BTSS agencies have developed a program called "Weeping Angel" which can penetrate smart TVs and turn them into covert microphones that listen in on conversations held at home.

In October 2014, the CIA studied embedding viruses into vehicle control systems. The document does not give a clear answer on the purpose of such procedures, but there is two assumptions that can hardly be ignored – turning a vehicle into a spying device or causing a crash.

Apple was quick to react to the leak, assuring that the majority of the vulnerabilities were outdated, or have already been fixed.

Similar statements were later made by Samsung and Microsoft. Even if some of the vulnerabilities were not fixed before the leak, they will be patched soon. Thus, the new dump by WikiLeaks has partially disarmed the CIA's cyber-intelligence branch.

Weird Consulate
The documents also reveal that the US consulate in the German city of Frankfurt is used as a "covert CIA hacker base," with intelligence operatives receiving diplomatic passports and cover from the government. The majority of the CIA hacking tools were developed there.
The consulate itself looks strange. Only a few US embassies are larger than the building in Frankfurt. According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, there are some 1,000 personnel in the consulate. It occupies an area of nine hectares and enclosed with a four-meter high barbwire fence.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, another German newspaper, in Frankfurt and its surroundings, the US runs a network of front companies as a disguise for intelligence activities.

A special legal status places no limits on US hacking activities at the site. Unlike an embassy, the consulate is not American territory, and thus it does not fall under US jurisdiction, including in terms of protecting privacy.

On the other hand, diplomatic immunity means that activities inside the consulate cannot be checked for compliance with German law.

(A page from the 'Vault 7' archive published by WikiLeaks)

Not Leaving a Trace
The archive of project UMBRAGE has a special place among the leaked documents. Within this project, the CIA collected information about hacking techniques from all over the world.

CIA cyber specialists used various techniques in order not to leave any data that could be used for attribution of the hacker attack. As a result, it is impossible to identify the true source of an attack, even after thorough criminal examinations. A special list of dos and don'ts was created for this.

"The CIA's Remote Devices Branch's UMBRAGE group collects and maintains a substantial library of attack techniques 'stolen' from malware produced in other states including the Russian Federation. With UMBRAGE and related projects the CIA cannot only increase its total number of attack types but also misdirect attribution by leaving behind the 'fingerprints' of the groups that the attack techniques were stolen from," WikiLeaks said in a press release.

Among other instruments, the CIA used a utility called Rebound, borrowed from the Shamoon malware. In 2012, Shamoon was used in hacker attacks on Saudi Aramco's systems and the infrastructure of Qatari gas company RasGas. At the time, Washington said that the malware was of Iranian origin. In turn, Tehran denied the allegations, calling for an international investigation.

The real history of Shamoon is unknown. Perhaps, it was really developed in Iran because its code contained an image of a burning American flag. Moreover, according to experts of Russian multinational cybersecurity provider Kaspersky Lab, the malware was not created by highly qualified programmers.

An updated version of Shamoon was once again used for attacks on Saudi facilities in November 2016 and January 2017.

(A page from the 'Vault 7' archive published by WikiLeaks)

"Russian Hackers"
Another interesting detail revealed from the leaked archive is a vast list of IP-addresses in different countries, which may have been used by CIA hacking experts. To make a long story short, it may have looked like the cyber attacks were carried out not from the US, but from other countries.

The list also contains several IPs located in Russia. They are assigned to different institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, including the Interdepartmental Supercomputer Center and Institute for Space Studies, as well as companies MTS, Sibirtelecom and Sinterra, and even the Russian Interior Ministry.

For example, journalists from Sofia counted 150 Bulgarian IP-addresses. They belong to telecommunications companies, Internet providers, banks and universities.

In late 2016, there were numerous reports about alleged Russian hackers involved in frauds with online ads. Those hackers used IP-addresses belonging to Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, one of the largest steel companies in Russia.

The investigation was carried out by private American company White Ops. The Russian steel company denied the allegations, saying that the addresses have long been obsolete. Moreover, certain IP-addresses reserved by the company were used by unidentified individuals in the US.

Despite the fact that the allegations were rebuffed the incident has been firmly associated with Russia.

For example, if a private or state-run investigation revealed that a US state institution used ID-addresses assigned to the Russian government this would spark a grandiose scandal. Such an attempt has been made, though. In December 2016, the US issued a report containing a list of suspicious ID-addresses, including those related to "Russian hackers."

Commentators pointed out that at least half of those addresses belong to the Tor anonymous network, which means they could have been used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Priority of Targets
Among the documents dumped by WikiLeaks, there is a list of questions which must be answered before any hacking operation begins.

Among the questions are types of targeted networks, types of information and files to be obtained, etc. It is also necessary to identify the target of the operation.

"Case Officers are allowed to configure a subset of the full capabilities of the provided tools. To configure a tool for an operation the case officer must answer a set of questions about the operation. The provided tool will then be configured based upon the answers to the questions," the document read.

However, among the possible variants of targets, there are no extremists and criminals. The list contains "foreign intelligence agency," "foreign government entity," as well as "system administrator or comparable technical target."

Perhaps terrorists and potentially dangerous targets can be referred to "other."
Nevertheless, this list clearly indicates the priority targets of CIA cyber operations.
 
Day 221.1 Did DNC Plant PR Guy Into Wikileaks NYC Office? Did DNC CrowdStrike Leakers In Vegas?
George Webb Published on May 26, 2018
Original George Webb Video - May 21st, 2017

Hmm. Seth Rich......:whistle:
 
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08.06.2018 - Assange meets Australian Officials for First Time Since Taking Refuge
Assange Meets Australian Officials for First Time Since Taking Refuge

The Australian whistleblower, who is in London's Ecuadorian embassy evading US authorities after publishing classified information on Iraq , balked after Ecuador cut off his Internet and social media access and warned about terminating his asylum for breaking the rules.

The delegates from the Australian High Commission in London have reportedly paid a visit to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The whistleblower has been claiming asylum there for several years, fearing extradition to the US and persecution there for leaking Iraq War log, but this is believed to be the first time he has received officials from his homeland over last 6 years.

One of Assange’s lawyers, Jennifer Robinson, cited by the Australian site news.com.au, has confirmed that his meeting with Canberra’s government representatives took place. He declined to comment further, stating that her client “is in a very serious situation, detained without charge for seven-and-a-half years” as there’s a risk of extradition.

"That risk is undeniable after numerous statements by Trump administration officials, including the director of the CIA and the US attorney-general,” she told the media.

Moreno, who referred to Assange as “more than a nuisance” and an “inherited problem,” also ordered the shutting down of special security reports that the country had spent at least $5 million on a spy operation to support and protect Assange in its embassy in London. In January 2018, Ecuador also granted citizenship to the WikiLeaks co-founder, so he could get diplomatic immunity and leave the building. At the same time, Moreno denied there’s any pressure on Ecuador concerning Assange.
 
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