Security News
The CIA illegally spied on US citizens while they visited WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, a lawsuit filed today has claimed. A legal complaint [PDF], filed in New York City on behalf of four attorneys and journalists, accuses the spy agency of spying on the American citizens without their knowledge or consent in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights while they met Assange at the embassy.
Julian Assange has all but lost his fight against extradition from Britain to America after the UK Supreme Court said his case "Did not raise an arguable point of law." Assange's fiancée Stella Moris described the Supreme Court rejection of her betrothed's legal efforts as "Corrupting," saying: "Julian was just doing his job, which was to publish the truth about wrongdoing. His loyalty is the same as that which all journalists should have: to the public. Not to the spy agencies of a foreign power."
Julian Assange has lost a legal scrap in court, this time over the US government's attempt to expand its grounds for extraditing him from England to stand trial in America. Uncle Sam is ultimately hoping to overturn a decision made in January blocking Assange's extradition on mental health grounds.
Julian Assange will remain in a British prison for now after the US government won permission to appeal against a January court ruling that freed him from extradition to America. News of the appeal came as the US Department of Justice offered Assange a deal that would keep him out of the notoriously cruel US supermax prisons, according to The Times.
The US Dept of Justice will continue pushing for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday. The decision by prosecutors, working under President Joe Biden, to press on also ignores an appeal made at the start of the week by a coalition of civil-liberties and human-rights groups, who urged the new commander-in-chief to drop the effort to drag Assange to America to face trial after obtaining and distributing classified material, most notably a huge cache of American military and diplomatic documents.
A British judge on Monday rejected the United States' request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. In a mixed ruling for Assange and his supporters, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected defense arguments that the 49-year-old Australian faces a politically motivated American prosecution that rides roughshod over free-speech protections.
Accused hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US to stand trial, Westminster Magistrates' Court has ruled. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser told Assange this morning that there was no legal obstacle to his being sent to the US, where he faces multiple criminal charges under America's Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act over his WikiLeaks website.
A British court has rejected the U.S. government's request to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the country on charges pertaining to illegally obtaining and sharing classified material related to national security. In a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court today, Judge Vanessa Baraitser denied the extradition on the grounds that Assange is a suicide risk and extradition to the U.S. prison system would be oppressive.
A UN rights expert on Tuesday urged outgoing US President Donald Trump to pardon Julian Assange, saying the WikiLeaks founder is not "An enemy of the American people". "In pardoning Mr Assange, Mr President, you would send a clear message of justice, truth and humanity to the American people and to the world," said Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture.
Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday failed to persuade a British judge to throw out new US allegations against him, as he resumed his fight to avoid extradition to the United States for leaking military secrets. Inside, Assange's lawyers sought to "Excise" new allegations lodged by Washington in recent weeks, saying they had not had time to formulate a proper response.