Ecuador cuts Assange's communications after comments on social media

[webfact]

Ecuador cuts Assange's communications after comments on social media

 

FILE PHOTO: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador has suspended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's communication system after he discussed on social media issues that could damage the country's diplomatic relations, the government said on Wednesday.

 

Assange has been living in Ecuador's London embassy since June 2012, when he entered the building to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about allegations of sex crimes, which he has always denied.

 

He recently spoke on social media about a diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow as well as about Catalonian separatism, despite warnings by Ecuador to avoid controversial political subjects.

 

"The measure was adopted in the face of Assange's failure to comply with a written commitment he assumed with the government at the end of 2017, under which he was obliged not to issue messages that would interfere with other states," Ecuador's government said in a statement.

 

The statement did not say which communication system it had suspended. In 2016, Ecuador restrictedAssange's internet access for commenting on U.S. internal affairs.

 

But a source close to WikiLeaks said that the Ecuadorean government had "placed electronic jammers inside the embassy on Tuesday night to prevent Mr. Assange from tweeting, and communicating over phone and internet generally."

 

The source said that the Ecuadorean government had also instructed embassy officials to refuse to allow visitors seeking to meet Assange to enter the embassy.

 

The source said that the Ecuadorean government had informed a lawyer for Assange that the WikiLeaks founder must stop tweeting about Catalonia and must erase a specific tweet Assange posted on the subject. But Assange refused to delete the tweet, the source added.

 

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno has described Assange as "a stone in our shoe" inherited from his predecessor and the government has said the situation is "unsustainable." In December, Ecuador grantedAssange citizenship.

 

The Swedish investigation was dropped last May, but Assange, who was free on bail at the time when he walked into the embassy, faces arrest by the British authorities for breaching his bail terms should he step outside the embassy grounds.

 

Assange says the real reason for his legal troubles is the fact that WikiLeaks published U.S. diplomatic and military secrets, and he fears that if he leaves, he risks being extradited to the United States.

 

British Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan described Assange on Tuesday as a "miserable little worm," who should leave the embassy and give himself up to British justice.

 

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington, writing by Girish Gupta; editing by Susan Thomas and G Crosse)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-29

[Samui Bodoh]

"...British Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan described Assange on Tuesday as a "miserable little worm," who should leave the embassy and give himself up to British justice..."

 

I have no idea whatsoever who Alan Duncan is or whether he is a good guy or not.

 

But, describing Assange as a "miserable little worm" is spot on.

 

Hear! Hear!

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Samui Bodoh
Lack of coffee

[Credo]

Well, he can go down to the local Starbuck's and download his emails.    No problem.

 

[StraightTalk]

Julian Assange is a wonderful activist for freedom of the press and freedom of speech. In his profession by its very nature requires him to be an opinionated and strong-willed individual. He courageously has exposed corruption in his unwavering bid for truth, and at great personal cost. Describing him as a "miserable little worm" is an unjust portrayal. He should be considered a hero in the world of investigative journalism!

[Credo]

He's also a wanted criminal who is too cowardly to face the law.   

 

Let's see how much 'exposing' he does now.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Credo

[Samui Bodoh]

26 minutes ago, StraightTalk said:

Julian Assange is a wonderful activist for freedom of the press and freedom of speech. In his profession by its very nature requires him to be an opinionated and strong-willed individual. He courageously has exposed corruption in his unwavering bid for truth, and at great personal cost. Describing him as a "miserable little worm" is an unjust portrayal. He should be considered a hero in the world of investigative journalism!

 

OR

 

He is simply one of Lenin's "useful fools" or "useful idiots".

 

OR

 

He knew that the material he put out came from Russian Intelligence Agencies.

 

Option 2 or 3 seem the most likely to me...

 

[Langsuan Man]

32 minutes ago, StraightTalk said:

Describing him as a "miserable little worm" is an unjust portrayal. He should be considered a hero in the world of investigative journalism!

or Putins' bitch 

[mfd101]

Just in a practical sense, having a British government minister describe him - quite accurately - as "a miserable little worm" is perhaps not conducive to (i) his willingness to face British justice and (ii) the outcome of that justice when his lawyer protests about being 'pre-judged in the media'.

Edited March 29, 2018 by mfd101

[blazes]

The world depends on "whistle-blowers" to remind us how corrupt our governments are.  Thanks to people like Assange and Edward Snowden, we know a lot more about how much spying Western governments conduct on their citizens.  (Perhaps the most revealing thing about the recent exposures was that the Americans were able to access Angela Merkel's cell-phone <deleted>.)

And here we all are suffering daily doses of lies from various sources in America that the Russians are spying on us.

 

Ha ha <deleted> ha.

 

 

[kamahele]

1 hour ago, StraightTalk said:

Julian Assange is a wonderful activist for freedom of the press and freedom of speech. In his profession by its very nature requires him to be an opinionated and strong-willed individual. He courageously has exposed corruption in his unwavering bid for truth, and at great personal cost. Describing him as a "miserable little worm" is an unjust portrayal. He should be considered a hero in the world of investigative journalism!

Or not. 

[StraightTalk]

Relating to Assange's legal predicament as brought out in this thead:

As far as I can tell Assange has said he would happily face British justice if he is given a guarantee he will not be extradited to USA.

This request has not been resolved or addressed by UK.

Wikileaks has been a source of embarrassing revelations for USA but has also been beneficial for some.

The Donald declared during his presidential bid: "I love Wikileaks."

But since then the tone has changed.

I can understand Assange's reluctance for leaving a heretofore 'safe' environment and surrender to unpredictable and present colossally lying politicians.

[tanner]

In my opinion, he is an egotistical Parasite who doesn't care about international security. 

[stevenl]

"As far as I can tell Assange has said he would happily face British justice if he is given a guarantee he will not be extradited to USA.

This request has not been resolved or addressed by UK."

 

Of course not, UK politics can not do that. It would be up to the judicial to decide, and they won't or can't say anything till they have all information.

[blazes]

2 hours ago, tanner said:

In my opinion, he is an egotistical Parasite who doesn't care about international security. 

Why are you talking like this about Mr Trump?

[Krataiboy]

Can't help wondering what inight Edward Snowden could provide (if only he dare) about the ex-Russian spy assassination in the UK.

[Morch]

8 hours ago, blazes said:

The world depends on "whistle-blowers" to remind us how corrupt our governments are.  Thanks to people like Assange and Edward Snowden, we know a lot more about how much spying Western governments conduct on their citizens.  (Perhaps the most revealing thing about the recent exposures was that the Americans were able to access Angela Merkel's cell-phone <deleted>.)

And here we all are suffering daily doses of lies from various sources in America that the Russians are spying on us.

 

Ha ha <deleted> ha.

 

 

 

It's a wonder Russia and China survive without much by way of such "whistle-blowers". Kinda odd how Assange and wannabe Assange "whistle blowers" somehow focus on Western governments. Not to say that Western governments are perfect, or that they are not corrupt - just that there's such a thing in the world as proportions.

[Morch]

10 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Can't help wondering what inight Edward Snowden could provide (if only he dare) about the ex-Russian spy assassination in the UK.

 

Can't help why someone would imagine Snowden would be privy to current intelligence operations by any country. I'm also wondering what does this have to do with Assange, or Wikileaks.

[JAG]

6 hours ago, StraightTalk said:

Relating to Assange's legal predicament as brought out in this thead:

As far as I can tell Assange has said he would happily face British justice if he is given a guarantee he will not be extradited to USA.

This request has not been resolved or addressed by UK.

Wikileaks has been a source of embarrassing revelations for USA but has also been beneficial for some.

The Donald declared during his presidential bid: "I love Wikileaks."

But since then the tone has changed.

I can understand Assange's reluctance for leaving a heretofore 'safe' environment and surrender to unpredictable and present colossally lying politicians.

To the best of my knowledge the United Kingdom Government cannot guarantee  Mr Assange will never be extradited to the United States.

If he leaves the embassy he will be arrested for jumping bail. If the US apply for his extradition, that will be a matter for the courts to consider. The courts in the UK are independent, and they not the Government would decide. The Government cannot therefore issue any such guarantee, whether or not they regard him as a "miserable little worm"!

[Expatthailover]

Assange and snowden epitomise the hypocrisy and total lack of credibility in the world perpetuated by the usa and uk.

Telling the truth is now a cardinal sin.

 

[JAG]

25 minutes ago, Expatthailover said:

Assange and snowden epitomise the hypocrisy and total lack of credibility in the world perpetuated by the usa and uk.

Telling the truth is now a cardinal sin.

 

Mr Assange now lives in the Ecuadorian Embassy because he rather wished to avoid telling, or at least discussing, the truth ( about his sexual antics), with the Swedish authorities. A little matter of buggering women whilst they were asleep was it not?

Edited March 29, 2018 by JAG

[Krataiboy]

39 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Can't help wondering why someone would imagine Snowden would be privy to current intelligence operations by any country. I'm also wondering what does this have to do with Assange, or Wikileaks.

Carry on wondering. It's obviously what you do best.

[Morch]

3 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Carry on wondering. It's obviously what you do best.

 

Shall we have another look at your original post?

 

Quote

Can't help wondering what inight Edward Snowden could provide (if only he dare) about the ex-Russian spy assassination in the UK.

[Krataiboy]

Just now, Morch said:

 

Shall we have another look at your original post?

 

You beat me two wonders to one. You're not, by any chance, an ex-Bolton Wonderer, are you?

[Krataiboy]

25 minutes ago, JAG said:

Mr Assange now lives in the Ecuadorian Embassy because he rather wished to avoid telling, or at least discussing, the truth ( about his sexual antics), with the Swedish authorities. A little matter of buggering women whilst they were asleep was it not?

Someone should have told him it's more fun when they are awake.

[BuaBS]

For those who wondered what Assange tweeted : Link >>

The answer is Catalonia.

He was spot on BUT after the warning of the Ecuadorian Embassy , he shouldn't have tweeted this from his personal account , thus avoiding Ecuadorian rules and conflict.

[rgraham]

Reminds me of Nobama, egotistical bucket of crap!

[BuaBS]

4 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Someone should have told him it's more fun when they are awake.

No it's not .

[JimmyJ]

5 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Can't help wondering what inight Edward Snowden could provide (if only he dare) about the ex-Russian spy assassination in the UK.

None. (Obviously).

[Krataiboy]

16 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

No it's not .

I won't even ask how you know.

[JimmyJ]

5 hours ago, JAG said:

Mr Assange now lives in the Ecuadorian Embassy because he rather wished to avoid telling, or at least discussing, the truth ( about his sexual antics), with the Swedish authorities. A little matter of buggering women whilst they were asleep was it not?

No.

 

One woman, who had consensual sex with him previously, said she was "half asleep" the final time they had sex but  was upset that he hadn't used a condom.

 

He was initially questioned and the case closed.

 

3 months later a prosecutor chose to reopen it.

Seems likely a deal was made with the US as a means to extradite Assange for heroically publishing the truth, embarrassing those in power.

 

 Assange's defense team:

 

"We understand that both complainants admit to having initiated consensual sexual relations with Mr Assange. They do not complain of any physical injury. The first complainant did not make a complaint for six days (in which she hosted the respondent in her flat [actually her bed] and spoke in the warmest terms about him to her friends) until she discovered he had spent the night with the other complainant...

 

"Both complainants say they did not report him to the police for prosecution but only to require him to have an STD test. However, his Swedish lawyer has been shown evidence of their text messages which indicate that they were concerned to obtain money by going to a tabloid newspaper and were motivated by other matters including a desire for revenge".

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/17/julian-assange-sweden

Edited March 29, 2018 by JimmyJ