Tag: Ecuador

The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange following his expulsion from Ecuador’s embassy in London on April 11 sparked debate among journalists about the dangerous precedents his case could set. Are the journalists who won awards reporting leaks Assange published hypocritical if they now support his arrest? Would successfully prosecuting Assange on accusations of a hacking conspiracy that involved helping Chelsea Manning crack passwords to disclose classified material allow the prosecution of journalists for reporting other classified materials leaked to them in the future? The Justice Department’s year-old indictment against Assange, which you can read here, includes an accusation of conduct that could arguably be considered a breach of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics: Assange agreed to help Chelsea Manning “crack” a password to a Defense Department computer. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, an advocacy group that provides pro bono legal representation to journalists, weighed in on Assange’s arrest with prescient discernment. “It bears repeating that no one is outside the protection of the First Amendment. The singular allegation that Assange may have attempted to crack a password takes this case out of the ‘easy’ category for press freedom advocates. The government would be mad, reckless — or, worse, actively anti-democratic — to bring a similar case without the password-cracking angle.” Assange’s case raises compelling questions about what the First Amendment protects and what it does not. Cultivating a source, protecting a source’s identity, communicating with a source securely—the indictment describes all of these activities as the ‘manners and means’ of the conspiracy.” Would the Justice Department necessarily prosecute other journalists for these daily news gathering practices if it wins its case against Assange? As the Committee writes, “time will tell how this plays out.”

British police are seen dragging the white-bearded WikiLeaks founder out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in a dramatic video after Ecuador withdraws his asylum; Greg Palkot reports. #FoxandFriends FOX News operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network…

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has been investigating a meeting between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017 and has specifically asked if WikiLeaks or its founder, Julian Assange, were discussed in…

The Ecuadorian Embassy in London may soon end the media blackout on WikiLeaks' embattled founder Julian Assange, but their demands in return for restoring his Internet, phone and visitor privileges amount to new “threats,” the embassy’s former consul told ABC News on Thursday. Over the weekend, Ecuadorian officials handed the Australian-born asylum seeker a list of new restrictions -- obtained by ABC News -- to which he would need to adhere in order to restore his virtual access to the outside world, including a prohibition on publishing or saying anything that may interfere with the affairs of other states. The former top diplomat in Ecuador’s London embassy, Fidel Narvaez, is a good friend and vocal supporter of Assange, telling ABC News that he is appalled by the government’s actions. "If implemented, these protocols will turn Ecuador from a protector into a persecutor and the consul staff in London will be forced to act like prison guards," said Narvaez, who left the London embassy last summer after eight years as one of Ecuador's most senior diplomats there. "The protocol is more like a list of threats than an agreement between two parties. Some even directly threaten to remove his Ecuadorean citizenship if he fails to comply. "Mister Assange needs to remember that despite the fact that Ecuadorian Republic recognizes his asylum condition, [Assange] while exercising his right of communication and freedom of speech from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, is prohibited from any activities that could be considered as political or interfering with other nations' affairs, or that could damage relationships between Ecuador and other states," according to a document listing the new protocols shared with ABC News. "Mister Assange will be in charge of the wellbeing, feeding, cleanliness and proper care of his pet,” the Ecuadorian document states. Government officials in Quito have told ABC News they acted under pressure from other countries, including the U.S. His base of support has split in recent months over a growing disbelief among many transparency movement activists of his repeated denials of colluding with Russian intelligence to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. There are no known criminal charges anywhere against Assange, but his lawyers have said in recent months that they fear he will then be charged by and extradited to the U.S. for either publishing U.S. government secrets or in connection with allegations that WikiLeaks collaborated with Russian military intelligence to disseminate hacked emails that were damaging to the Clinton campaign, a focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked the deportation of a New York pizza shop worker to his native Ecuador after he was arrested while making a delivery to a Brooklyn army base. Undocumented worker arrested by Ice after delivering pizza to military base Read more Attorneys for the Legal Aid Society obtained the temporary stay for Pablo Villavicencio after a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The 35-year-old married father of two young girls was arrested on 1 June while making a delivery to the garrison in Fort Hamilton. A background check revealed there was a warrant for his arrest for immigration law violations. New York governor Andrew Cuomo had asked federal homeland security officials to look into the case, saying recent detentions raise significant legal questions. In a letter to the Ice office in New York, the Democrat said Villavicencio’s “expedited removal serves no legitimate public safety purpose and the circumstances leading to his arrest and detention raise serious legal and policy concerns”. Villavicencio’s wife, Sandra Chica, is an American citizen and their daughters, ages two and three, were born in the US. A background check showed that Villavicencio had been ordered to leave the US in 2010, but stayed. Haskins said attorneys worked through the night preparing the emergency stay request that was argued in court on Saturday afternoon. “This decision is also a reminder that the judiciary can still serve as a powerful check when other branches of government make hasty, cruel and reckless decisions.” The attorneys said they will work with Villavicencio to help him secure valid immigration status.