Posts Tagged ‘Julian Assange’
August 16th, 2012
Wikileaks founder
Julian Assange has been granted political asylum in
Ecuador. The Australian national, who has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for two months after breaching his bail conditions in the UK, is wanted in Sweden, where allegations of sexual assault have been made against him. The Ecuadorian foreign ministry said it was not confident that Assange would not be extradited to the United States should he return to Sweden. Assange has been heavily criticised in the US for publishing secret diplomatic cables, but as yet no charge has been brought against him.
Private Bradley Manning, alleged to be the source of the cable leak, has been in the US since July 2010, where he faces several charges including “aiding the enemy”.
Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has previously appeared as a guest on Julian Assange’s Russia Today interview programme. The South American country has
faced criticism for its record on free speech.
UPDATE: The British Foreign Office has released this statement
We are disappointed by the statement from Ecuador’s Foreign Minister that Ecuador has offered political asylum to Julian Assange.
Under our law, with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden. We shall carry out that obligation. The Ecuadorian Government’s decision this afternoon does not change that.
We remain committed to a negotiated solution that allows us to carry out our obligations under the Extradition Act.
June 14th, 2012
Wikileaks founder
Julian Assange has been
denied a request to re-open his appeal against extradition to Sweden. In a statement issued today, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court said that the decision to reject the request made by Dinah Rose, Assange’s lawyer, was “unanimous”. On 30 May, the court
decided to allow Assange’s extradition by a 5-2 majority. Swedish authorities want to question Assange about two sex crime allegations brought against him. The activist fears that the possible charges are “politically motivated”, and has attorneys have announced plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
November 2nd, 2011
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lost his
UK High Court appeal against extradition to
Sweden. Assange faces
accusations of rape and sexual assault after a visit to Stockholm in August 2010.
The judgement was handed down to the 40-year-old Australian by two High Court judges, following a European arrest warrant. Assange’s lawyers will take 14 days to decide whether to appeal further, and if he is denied the right to appeal, British law enforcement officers will arrange for his removal to Sweden within 10 days.
February 24th, 2011
Lawyers for Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, are to appeal his extradition to Sweden to face a sexual assault investigation.
Judge Howard Riddle ruled today that the European Arrest Warrant issued by a Swedish prosecutor was valid, and that Assange should return to Sweden to face questioning.
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December 16th, 2010
The High Court in London has upheld the lower court’s decision to release
Wikileaks founder on bail. The 39-year-old Australian was granted bail on Tuesday but prosecutors objected to the decision and he remained in jail. Assange is fighting extradition to Sweden over sex charges involving two women. He denies the allegations. Assange is likely to be released in the next 24 hours.
December 14th, 2010
Wikileaks‘ founder Julian Assange was granted bail by a London court, but he will remain in custody until an appeal against the decision is heard. Assange is facing extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges including one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape. He denies the charges.
Before he is freed Assange must pay a £200,000 security into the court, he will be electronically tagged and subject to a curfew from 10am-2pm and 10pm-2am.
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December 7th, 2010
A London court today refused to grant bail to Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange. Assange is facing extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges including one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.
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December 6th, 2010
Wikileaks is reporting that Swiss bank Post Finance has frozen an account set up for the legal defence of Julian Assange. The move follow’s Paypal’s freezing of Wikleaks’ account last Friday (3 December)
Read Wikileaks’ statement
here
