Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, arrested, dragged out of embassy hideout – Secret US indictment reveals he’s charged with hacking hundreds of thousands of classified documents after egging on Chelsea Manning to hand over password
‘Wikileaks boss Julian Assange faces a year in UK jail over embassy arrest – as US demand home office hand him over’
Julian Assange is charged with hacking hundreds of thousands of classified documents by egging on Chelsea Manning to hand over America’s secrets in indictment revealed
It was revealed in 2018 Assange had been secretly indicted by the US Justice Department on unknown charges – the charges were made public after he was dragged out of Ecuador’s London embassy
WikiLeaks founder Julius Assange, 47, was dragged protesting out of Embassy in handcuffs by a large group of British police officers today
Simultanously U.S. Federal prosecutors unsealed a 2018 indictment charging Assange with conspiring to hack documents
The fugitive publisher has not left embassy since 2012, when he was offered refuge from allegations of sexual assault in Sweden
Assange has always feared extradition to the US, where he is wanted for a conspiracy to leak highly-classified security documents
He is charged with reaching a ‘password-cracking agreement’ with former US Army private Bradley Manning, now known as Chelsea Manning
He agreed to assist Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, in March 2010 – Bon are charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion
Ecuador said its decision came after ‘repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols’
Ecuador president Lenin Moreno slammed the ‘discourteous and aggressive behaviour’ of Julian Assange as he reveals UK was asked to guarantee he wouldn’t be extradited to a country with the death penalty
WikiLeaks had claimed Ecuadorean government is spying on Julian Assange
Assange’s attorney said the arrest was ‘not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to US extradition request’
He is currently in custody and set to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court ‘as soon as possible’
Julian Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy by cops after they withdrew asylum status today
US federal prosecutors today charged Julian Assange with participating in conspiracy to hack thousands of computer documents in an indictment unsealed after his dramatic arrest in London that brought him into police custody after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy.
The government charged Assange with taking part in one of the largest leaks of classified information in the nation’s history by conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
British authorities confirmed that whistleblower, Julian Assange, was being held on behalf of the US, as well as for breaching bail conditions following rape allegations in Sweden dating back to 2010
Military intelligience analyst Bradley Manning, [left], now Chelsea Manning [right], and Assange have been accused of having entered a conspiracy aimed at illegally obtaining classified information which Assange them disseminated
The government describes the two as reaching an ‘password-cracking agreement’ in order to obtain documents.
Manning had already provided WikiLeaks with hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including activities reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the government.
In describing the alleged conspiracy, US federal prosecutors say Manning gave Assange ‘part of a password’ stored on Defense Department computers. Assange told Manning he was trying to crack the password. But the indictment does not say that the effort actually succeeded.
The grand jury indictment is dated March 6, 2018, and was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, a venue for many prominent federal cases with national security implications.
It also describes Assange’s efforts to encourage further removal of classified documents by Manning. On March 8, 2010, Manning told Assange she was ‘throwing everything’ at the effort to secure assessment briefs from detainees being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Manning also told Assange at the time that ‘after this upload, that’s all I really have got left,’ Assange encouraged her to do more. ‘Curious eyes never run dry in my experience,’ Assange wrote, according to the government. Following the exchange, over a period of days that ran through April 9, Manning downloaded State Department cables that WikiLeaks would later publish – causing a rash of diplomatic headaches for U.S. officials working around the globe.
Manning’s release came as Ecuador, which had granted him asylum for years, agreed to receive $10 billion in financial aid from the International Monetary Fund and other global development bodies.
A handcuffed Assange [photo], is seen in a van with police officers as he makes his way to Westminster Magistrates Court in London ahead of his hearing
According to the agreement, announced Thursday, the IMF would provide Ecuador with $4.2 billion in loans.
Other infusions would come from the World Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as the Latin American Reserve Fund, AFP reported.
Curious eyes never run dry in my experience.’ – Julian Assange to Manning
The formal charge states that Assange ‘did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate and agree with other co-conspirators known and unknown to the Grand Jury to commit an offense against the United States.’
The charge of Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion carries a term of up to five years in prison. Prosecutors did not file any charge relating to hacking related to the 2016 presidential election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors wrote in a court filing that they have obtained evidence of longtime Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone communicating with WikiLeaks about hacked Democratic emails. The filing said the government obtained communications between Stone and ‘Organization 1,’ but didn’t say what was included.
The language in the indictment says Assange ‘encouraged’ Manning to provide information, and reached an ‘agreement to crack the password’ stored on Defense Department computers.
It does not actually state that Assange succeeded in the effort. In fact, it quotes Assange as seeking more information from Manning on March 10, 2010, telling him he had been trying to crack the password but had ‘no luck so far.
Assange was arrested by British police today after being hauled out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London following an extradition request by the US.
The Wikileaks founder, sporting a scruffy beard and unkempt hair, was dragged out of the building head-first in handcuffs by a group of seven men as his stunned supporters watched on as he screamed out ‘the UK must resist’.
Shortly after, British authorities confirmed that the whistleblower was being held on behalf of the US, as well as for breaching bail conditions following rape allegations in Sweden dating back to 2010.
WikiLeaks confirmed Assange had been arrested under a U.S. extradition warrant for conspiracy with American whistleblower Chelsea Manning for publishing classified information revealing war crimes, also in 2010.
It comes after Ecuador dramatically withdrew Assange’s asylum status after seven years, blaming the Australian’s ‘discourteous and aggressive behavior’ in continuing to work with WikiLeaks while housed at the embassy.
Assange has always feared extradition to the U.S., where his lawyers have claimed he could face the death penalty for the mass leaking of highly-classified documents through WikiLeaks.
It was accidentally revealed in November that Assange had been secretly indicted by federal prosecutors, but the exact nature of the charges against the 47-year-old was not disclosed.
In a statement today, Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno accused Assange of violating the terms of his asylum by ‘interfering in internal affairs of other states’ as well as ‘blocking security cameras’ and ‘mistreating guards’.
The arrest came just 24 hours after Wikileaks accused Ecuador of an ‘extensive spying operation’, adding that it assumed intel had been handed over to the administration of US President Donald Trump.
U.S Indictment against Julian Assange
In a statement, the Home Office said: ‘We can confirm that Julian Assange was arrested in relation to a provisional extradition request from the United States of America.
‘He is accused in the United States of America computer related offences.’
Assange has not left Ecuador’s diplomatic soil since 2012, when the country offered diplomatic protection from allegations of sexual assault in Sweden.
The case was eventually dropped as investigators were unable to formally notify Assange of the allegations, however Swedish prosecutors revealed today that the case could now be revisited following his arrest.
Moments after the arrest, during which Assange held on to a Gore Vidal book on the history of the national security state, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally and ‘in violation of international law’.
In a statement today, Ecuador’s president claimed to have asked Britain to guarantee that Assange would not be extradited to any country where he could face torture or the death penalty.
Mr Javid said: ‘Nearly seven years after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing ‘I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation & for its professionalism. No one is above the law.’
Shortly after his arrest, vocal supporter and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson tweeted a black and white photo of Assange along with the caption ‘Veritas Valebit’, which is Latin for ‘the truth will prevail’.
The 51-year-old, who claims she was previously in a relationship with Assange, said she was in shock at the arrest.
Taking to Twitter she commented on his appearance and said he looked ‘very bad’.
She said: ‘How could you Equador ? (Because he exposed you). How could you UK? Of course – you are America’s b***h and you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit b*******. ‘
She also called out the USA and described President Donald Trump as ‘toxic’.
She added: ‘This toxic coward of a President He needs to rally his base? – You are selfish and cruel. You have taken the entire world backwards.
Moments after the arrest, WikiLeaks said Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Assange’s political asylum ‘in violation of international law’.
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, said in a statement on Julian Assange that he had displayed ‘discourteous and aggressive behaviour’.
He said: ‘Ecuador sovereignly has decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr Assange in 2012. For six years and 10 months, the Ecuadorian people have protected the human rights of Mr Assange and have provided for his everyday needs at the facilities of our Embassy in London.
Assange’s arrest comes a day after Wikileaks accused the Ecuadorean Government of an ‘extensive spying operation’.
In a press conference on Wednesday, it was alleged that the WikiLeaks founder’s meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the Ecuador embassy in London over the past year had been secretly filmed.
The anti-secrecy organization said it had been offered all the material from an unnamed person in Spain, if it paid €3million (£2.6million).
WikiLeaks also told how it assumed the information had been handed over to the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Former Ecudorian assylee Assange [photo] had refused to leave the embassy, claiming he would be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he did so.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said following the arrest: ‘What we have shown today is that nobody is above the law – Julian Assange is no hero.
‘He’s hidden from the truth for years and years and it’s right that his future should be decided in the British judicial system.’
He added: ‘What has happened today is the result of years of careful diplomacy by the Foreign Office.’
Mr Hunt added: ‘[It’s] a very courageous decision by President Moreno in Ecuador to resolve this situation that’s been going on for nearly seven years.
‘It’s not so much that Julian Assange was being held hostage in the Ecuadorian Embassy, it was actually Julian Assange holding the Ecuadorian Embassy hostage. It was a situation that was absolutely intolerable to them.’
In a statement this morning, Scotland Yard said: ‘Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Hans Crescent, SW1 on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.
‘He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates’ Court as soon as is possible.
‘The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of asylum.’
WikiLeaks tweeted: ‘URGENT: Ecuador has illigally (sic) terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law.
‘He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago.’

American-Canadian actress Pamela Anderson has hit out at the UK after Julian Assange’s arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
The 51-year-old, who was previously in a relationship with Assange said she was in shock at the arrest.
Taking to Twitter she commented on his appearance and said he looked ‘very bad’.
She said: ‘How could you Equador ? (Because he exposed you). How could you UK? Of course – you are America’s bitch and you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit b*******. ‘
he also called out the USA and described President Donald Trump as ‘toxic’.
She added: ‘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 ROTT And WE WILL RISE ✊.’
Anderson then re-tweeted videos of Assange’s arrest before posting a photo of him with the caption ‘veritas valebit’, which is Latin for ‘truth will prevail’.
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, said in a statement on Assange: ‘Ecuador is a generous country and a nation with open arms.
‘Ours is a government respectful of the principles of international law, and of the institution of the right of asylum.
‘Granting or withdrawing asylum is a sovereign right of the Ecuadorian state, according to international law.
‘Today, I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declaration of its allied organization, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.
‘Ecuador sovereignly has decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr Assange in 2012.
‘For six years and 10 months, the Ecuadorian people have protected the human rights of Mr Assange and have provided for his everyday needs at the facilities of our Embassy in London.
‘When I became the President of Ecuador, I inherited this situation and decided to adopt a protocol to set the daily life rules at the Embassy, which is less than anyone may expect from a guest hosted at his own house.
‘Ecuador has fulfilled its obligations in the framework of international law.
‘On the other hand, Mr Assange violated, repeatedly, clear cut provisions of the conventions on diplomatic asylum of Havana and Caracas; despite the fact that he was requested on several occasions to respect and abide by these rules.’
Rafael Correa, who was Ecuadorian president when Assange was granted asylum, has strongly condemned his successor’s decision.
He tweeted that Lenin Moreno was the ‘greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history’.
Anna Ardin [left], and Sofia Wilen both have accused Julius Assange of rape in sweden
The attorney for Julian Assange’s alleged Swedish rape victim says ‘we will do all we can to make prosecutors reopen investigation’.
The Swedish lawyer of Julian Assange’s alleged rape victim is pushing to reopen the case that was dropped in 2017.
Lawyer Elisabeth Massi Fritz says she would ‘do all we can to make prosecutors reopen investigation’ in the wake of the Wikileaks founder’s arrest today.
She said: ‘My client and I have just received the news that Assange has been arrested.
‘The fact that what we have been waiting and hoping for nearly seven years is now happening, of course, comes as a shock to my client.
‘We will do all we can to get prosecutors to reopen the Swedish preliminary criminal investigation so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and be prosecuted for rape.’
Assange was arrested by British police today after Ecuador dramatically withdrew political asylum seven years after he was given refuge in the country’s London embassy.
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