Julian Assange, the very early Bitcoin supporter, and Wikileaks founder has been arrested by London’s Met police and carried out of the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday.
Assange arrest video:
“The UK must resist this attempt by the Trump administration”https://t.co/fq1JGfw40u
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 11, 2019
“Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) 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,” said Met.
Assange who was sporting white hair and a white beard was carried out of the embassy by at least seven men to a waiting police van.
“The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates’ Court,” further stated Met Police “and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of asylum.”
Assange has been arrested in relation to a US extradition request for “conspiracy with Chelsea Manning” for publishing Iraq War Logs, Cablegate, Afghan War Logs, precisely the persecution for which he was granted asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention in 2012. @unhumanrights pic.twitter.com/i0TezO3SdK
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 11, 2019
In early 2010, Assange made headlines when WikiLeaks published a classified US military video showing an attack from 2007 by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people.
In 2012, Assange took refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy in order to avoid extradition to Sweden where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation. Though that investigation was dropped in 2017, Assange was arrested today for breaking rules regarding his original bail in London.
.@ggreenwald says Julian Assange is not American and Wikileaks is a foreign-based news organization. “So the idea that the U.S. government can just extend its reach to any news outlet anywhere in the world and criminalize publication of documents … is extremely chilling.” pic.twitter.com/2mWlcpMume
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) April 11, 2019
Just before updating MPs on the Brexit delay, Theresa May gave a statement on Assange,
“I am sure that the whole House will welcome the news this morning that the Metropolitan Police have arrested Julian Assange. Arrested for breach of bail after nearly seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy. He has also been arrested in relation to an extradition request from the United States authorities.”
Julian Assange is no hero and no one is above the law. He has hidden from the truth for years. Thank you Ecuador and President @Lenin Moreno for your cooperation with @foreignoffice to ensure Assange faces justice
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) April 11, 2019
Julian Assange played a big role in the resistance against the Iraq war in 2010-11 that increased the pressure to end the war. The mass exposure of US diplomatic cables in 2010 has been possible because of US soldier Chelsea Manning, who handed 700,000 classified documents to Wikileaks.
UK Metropolitan police confirm Assange has been arrested in relation to a US warrant. Assange lawyers confirm it concerns an alleged conspiracy with Chelsea Manning in relation to 2010 publications. https://t.co/oUZJT3XS3c
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 11, 2019
Manning was given a 35-year prison sentence in 2013 and before being freed in 2017 served over 3 years. Now, Assange potentially faces prison after in March 2019, Manning was re-arrested for refusing to testify in a secret inquiry targeting Wikileaks and Assange.
Telling the world the TRUTH about war crimes, human rights abuses, corruption, election fraud and abuses of power IS NOT A CRIME.
Please donate to @Wikileaks now so that the legal team of Julian Assange has funding to fight back.#FreeAssange #FreeJulian
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) April 11, 2019
The fundraising initiative by Wikileaks that is to build support for efforts made in regard with information gathering is accepted in Bitcoin (BTC) and Zcash (ZEC) and other conventional means has already started receiving the donation in BTC since Assange’s arrest.
This is exactly what Bitcoin was designed to do. WikiLeaks used it to beat the (illegal) blockade against us also, starting in 2011. https://t.co/op14R2EEoC
— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange) December 13, 2017
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