Ecuador grants political asylum to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

[Swordsmyth]

Immigrant enters foreign country (an Embassy is considered foreign soil), requests asylum, and wants free housing, food and medical care. Assange wants it, that is a good thing. People from Ecuador ask for it, everybody panics and wants to call out the military.

The invaders headed for the US don't have the kind of asylum claim that Assange does and Ecuador had every right to refuse Assange if they wanted to, they even have every right to end his asylum if they want but the question is whether they would be right to do so.

Your false equivalence between one legitimate high priority political target and millions of economic/conquest invaders is quite ridiculous.

 

[Zippyjuan]

The invaders headed for the US don't have the kind of asylum claim that Assange does and Ecuador had every right to refuse Assange if they wanted to, they even have every right to end his asylum if they want but the question is whether they would be right to do so.

Your false equivalence between one legitimate high priority political target and millions of economic/conquest invaders is quite ridiculous.

If he is unhappy with his living conditions, he is free to leave the embassy- just as he entered it freely. How dare they make him clean up after his cat and do his own laundry and pay for his food! It is inhuman!

 

[Swordsmyth]

If he is unhappy with his living conditions, he is free to leave the embassy- just as he entered it freely. How dare they make him clean up after his cat and do his own laundry and pay for his food! It is inhuman!

Yes, he could choose to place himself in the hands of people who very well might "disappear" him or have a show trial and execute him instead.

Would you?

 

[angelatc]

If he is unhappy with his living conditions, he is free to leave the embassy- just as he entered it freely. How dare they make him clean up after his cat and do his own laundry and pay for his food! It is inhuman!

Is the new Zippy a female?

Allow me to remind you that he was invited in?

 

[Swordsmyth]

As Ecuador struggles to rid itself of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has become just one more annoyance for the administration of new Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, the country's diplomatic service is taking another step that will help it pressure Assange into hopefully leaving its embassy in London, where he has been holed up for more than 5 years.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Ecuador does not plan to intervene with the British government on Assange's behalf in talks over his situation as an asylee in the country's embassy, according to the country's foreign minister. During an interview with Reuters, Foreign Minister José Valencia said that Ecuador's sole responsibility regarding Assange was securing his well-being.
Valencia said he was "frustrated" by Assange's decision to sue the Ecuadorian government in one of the country's court last week over new terms of his asylum.
"There is no obligation in international agreements for Ecuador to pay for things like Mr. Assange's laundry," he said.
This is a departure from Ecuador's previous practice of maintaining a dialogue with British authorities over Assange's situation since granting him asylum in 2012. Now, for the first time since Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012, Ecuador will do nothing to help keep the British government at bay - something that is even more important after Assange lost a crucial court appeal regarding the charges of skipping bail that he is currently hiding from. the original sex crime charges brought by Swedish prosecutors were dropped back in 2017.


Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer advising Assange, said that "developments in the case in recent times" demonstrated the need for Australia's government to intervene to assist "one of its citizens who faces real danger."
In addition to the new rules by which Assange must abide, Ecuador has also attempted to intimidate potential visitors to Assange by enforcing new "special protocols."
What's the special protocol?

Lawyers for Mr Assange claim the protocol:
Requires journalists, Mr Assange's lawyers and anyone else looking to see him to disclose private or political details - such as the serial numbers and codes of their phones and tablets
The protocol says the government may "share" the information "with other agencies"
Allows the embassy to seize the property of Mr Assange or his visitors and, without a warrant, hand it over to UK authorities.
WikiLeaks said that US congressmen had written an open letter to Ecuador's president, Lenin Moreno, about the situation.
It claims the document said that in order to advance crucial matters - such as economic co-operation, counternarcotics assistance and the possible return of a USAID mission to Ecuador - they must first resolve a "significant challenge" - the status of Mr Assange.

​

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...e-says-it-wont-intervene-uk-authorities-after

 

[Swordsmyth]

An Ecuadorian judge rejected a lawsuit filed Julian Assange objecting to the revised terms of his asylum at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has been stranded since 2012.
It wasn't all bad news for Assange however: citing a government official, Reuters reported that Ecuador would maintain Assange’s asylum as long as he wants to keep it, but he must follow the rules laid out for him by the government. Embassy staff has complained of Assange riding a skateboard in the halls of the embassy, of playing soccer on the grounds and behaving aggressively with security personnel.

Meanwhile, Assange’s internet access and visitation rights have yet to be restored, despite promises from Quito to do so, according to his attorney Baltasar Garzon.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...ssanges-lawsuit-over-asylum-living-conditions

 

[RonZeplin]

Break-in Attempted at Assange’s Residence in Ecuador Embassy

An attempted break-in at Julian Assange’s residence inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Oct. 29, and the absence of a security detail, have increased fears about the safety of the WikiLeak’s publisher. Lawyers for Assange have confirmed to activist and journalist Suzie Dawson that Assange was awoken in the early morning hours by the break-in attempt. They confirmed to Dawson that the attempt was to enter a front window of the embassy. A booby-trap Assange had set up woke him, the lawyers said.

Scaffolding has appeared against the embassy building in the Knightsbridge section in London which “obscures the embassy’s security cameras,” the lawyers said.


Scaffolding near balcony where Assange has appeared. (Sean O’Brien)

On the scaffolding electronic devices, presumably to conduct surveillance, can be seen, just feet from the embassy windows.

Later on the day of the break-in, Sean O’Brien, a lecturer at Yale University Law School and a cyber-security expert, was able to enter the embassy through the front door, which was left open. Inside he found no security present. Someone from the embassy emerged to tell him to send an email to set up an appointment with Assange. After emailing the embassy, personnel inside refused to check whether it had been received or not.


One of the apparent surveillance devices. (Sean O’Brien.)

O’Brien then noticed more scaffolding being erected and observed the devices, which he photographed. Though a cyber-security expert, O’Brien said he could not identify what the devices are.

“I’ve never seen devices quite like this, and I take photos of surveillance equipment often,” O’Brien said. “There were curious plastic tubes with yellow-orange caps, zip-tied to the front. I have no idea what these are but they seem to have equipment inside them.”

The devices are pointed towards the embassy, where all the blinds were open, and not the street, he said. “The surveillance devices in the photos reveals no manufacturer branding, serial numbers or visible device information,” Dawson said. “The combination of the obscuring of the street-facing surveillance cameras and the installation of surveillance equipment pointed intoinstead of away from the Embassy, is alarming.”


Another device. (Sean O’Brien)

The Ecuadorean government had to have given permission for the devices to be installed as they are flush up against the embassy walls on government sovereign territory, Dawson said.

O’Brien said that previous visitors had described to him “closed and locked doors. Security guards manning the desk at all times. Privacy drapes, dark rooms with shuttered blinds. For such a reversal of position to have occurred, there is only one conclusion: the Ecuadorian Embassy is open for business. Wide open.”

In May the Ecuadorian government of President Lenin Moreno shut off Assange’s electronic communications and denied him all visitors except his mother and his lawyers. Last month the government offered Assange a deal: his access to the world could be restored if he agreed not to comment on politics. Assange reportedly refused.

On Thursday the government suddenly barred all access to Assange visitors, including his legal team until next Monday, raising fears that no witnesses could be present should there be an attempt to abduct Assange over the weekend.

The break-in attempt occurred on the morning that Assange was due to testify via video-link to a court in Quito regarding Assange’s conditions of asylum. Technical problems interrupted Assange’s testimony. The court ruled against his lawyer’s petition for protections for Assange.

The new Ecuadorian government indicated in the Spring that Assange would eventually have to leave the embassy. Assange fears that if he leaves the British government will arrest him on a minor charge of skipping bail when he legally sought asylum inside the embassy in June of 2012.

Assange and his lawyers fear that if he is detained by British authorities he would be extradited to the United States where they believe there is a sealed indictment against him possibly on espionage charges for simply publishing classified documents that he has not been accused of stealing.

 

[specsaregood]

It's going to be amusing when he finally leaves and nothing happens.

 

[Zippyjuan]

An Ecuadorian judge rejected a lawsuit filed Julian Assange objecting to the revised terms of his asylum at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has been stranded since 2012.
It wasn't all bad news for Assange however: citing a government official, Reuters reported that Ecuador would maintain Assange’s asylum as long as he wants to keep it, but he must follow the rules laid out for him by the government. Embassy staff has complained of Assange riding a skateboard in the halls of the embassy, of playing soccer on the grounds and behaving aggressively with security personnel.

Meanwhile, Assange’s internet access and visitation rights have yet to be restored, despite promises from Quito to do so, according to his attorney Baltasar Garzon.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...ssanges-lawsuit-over-asylum-living-conditions

It has only cost them $6 million so far to let him stay there and skateboard down the hallways and eat free food. Won't clean up after himself or his cat. Gets upset when his internet gets cut off. Sounds like a college dorm.