Assange’s arrest has sparked concerns from US free speech advocates,worried that this could set a precedent for the government to go after journalists. Legal experts pushed back, saying the charge intentionally targets hacking, an action that goes beyond journalism ethics.
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, told reporters that Assange will be treated just like all other Australian nationals who break laws abroad – and the country will not intervene in his extradition to the US.
You can get the full breakdown of what happened throughout the day here and the read more about the news below.
Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, has been asked by reporters about Julian Assange.
She says that Assange, as an Australian citizen, will receive consular assistance, as any other citizen would if facing arrest in a foreign country and that consular representatives will meet with Assange today.
Payne was asked whether the Australian government would seek guarantees that Assange would not be extradited to a state where he might face the death penalty. She said that while Australia continues to vehemently oppose the death penalty, Assange’s potential extradition to the US is an issue between the UK and the US.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters that the country will not intervene on Assange’s behalf or block his extradition to the United States.
“When Australians travel overseas and find themselves in difficulty with the law, they face the judicial systems of those countries,” Morrison said. The WikiLeaks founder will receive the same assistance Australia offers all its citizens when they break laws abroad, he added.
PM says here was a request for assistance and that was responded to. "He won't be getting special treatment from Australia"
Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, appeared on BBC this evening, to argue why her client’s arrest set a “dangerous precedent” that should concern free speech advocates.
Julian Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, says his arrest today is “a free speech issue” because it “is all about the ways in which journalists can communicate with their sources”#newsnight | @suigenerisjenpic.twitter.com/ZHYMQJFCht
The arrest has sparked alarm among some organizations who fear that the charges filed by the US Department of Justice could also be used against journalists.
It's true, the indictment doesn't attempt to make publishing a crime. That's obviously a good thing. But the ENTIRE thing is based on a journalist's interactions and discussions with a source. No other action is alleged. So it's still worrying to me.
The Columbia Journalism Review warned that “going forward, journalists will need to be vigilant” citing the “serious implications” of Assange’s arrest and the charges against him.
wild that people replying to this kind of stuff with "assange is not a journalist" don't seem to realize that the government could easily make that same argument for nearly anyone https://t.co/60HyJXqV63
But some legal experts argued that the specificity of the charge is intended to not infringe on First Amendment Rights granted to journalists in the US.
“A lot of the broader legal and policy implications have been alleviated by how narrowly tailored this indictment is,” Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer in Washington who represents whistleblowers and journalists told Reuters.
Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law, agrees, explaining that the charge is more closely tied to hacking than to journalism.
Per Reuters:
Prosecutors will emphasize that cracking a password is far outside the realm of what respectable journalists do, Chesney at the University of Texas said.
‘All of this turns on the idea that Assange tries to hack a password,’ Chesney said. ‘That’s not journalism, that’s theft’”.
After Assange’s arrest many people were expecting news about his feline friend, who had been seen throughout the years posing for social media photos and peering out of windows of the Ecuadorian embassy.
For the record: Julian Assange’s cat was reportedly given to a shelter by the Ecuadorian embassy ages ago, so don’t expect a feline extradition in the next few hours.
Embassy Cat, whose twitter bio (where he is followed by more than 31K people) says it lives with Assange and is interested in “counter-purrveillance” was reportedly ousted after Ecuadorian officials told Assange he’d have to provide and pay for its care.
Gabrielle Canon here taking over for Tom McCarthy.
Tulsi Gabbard weighed in this afternoon, on the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, tweeting that it sent a censorship signal out to political critics.
The arrest of #JulianAssange is meant to send a message to all Americans and journalists: be quiet, behave, toe the line. Or you will pay the price.
The US presidential candidate has defended Assange before. At a meet-and-greet in New Hampshire in February, she told a crowd that WikiLeaks “spurred some necessary change”.
US presidential candidate @TulsiGabbard this evening: WikiLeaks spurred 'necessary change'
Julian Assange has been found guilty of breaching bail in 2012 after being arrested at the Ecuadorean embassy in London on Thursday. He is to be sentenced next month.
The United States has requested the extradition of Assange and charged him with involvement in computer hacking with Chelsea Manning. The Metropolitan police said the arrest was made on behalf of the US authorities.
In reaction to the news, Donald Trump said “I know nothing about WikiLeaks,” adding, “It’s not my thing.” In the final month of the 2016 election, Trump mentioned WikiLeaks 164 times.
Theresa May welcomed Assange’s arrest saying it showed “no one is above the law.”
Chelsea Manning’s legal team arguedthat the year-old indictment against Assange meant she had been improperly held in contempt of court for declining to testify before a grand jury in his case.
Police were videoed forcibly removing Assange from the embassy at around at around 10.50am. Police had been invited into the building by the Ecuadorian embassy, where Assange had take refuge for almost seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation.
The president of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, said he secured guarantees from the UK that Assange would not face the death penalty or torture. Justifying the move of handing him over to the British police, Moreno said: “In a sovereign decision, Ecuador withdrew the asylum status to Julian Assange after his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life- protocols.”
Assange’s supporters have condemned the arrest. Rafael Correa, who was Ecuadorian president when Assange was granted asylum, accused his successor of treachery.
British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood speaks in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange outside Westminster magistrates court where he was appearing on Thursday. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP
A supporter of Julian Assange stands outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London on August 16, 2012. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
From 23 February, 2017, of Pamela Anderson arriving to visit Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
From 14 November, 2016, of a cat that is believed to belong to Julian Assange. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Julian Assange: the wedge that created a divide among Trump loyalists
Julian Borger
The charges that led to Julian Assange’s arrest have nothing to do with the 2016 presidential election or the Mueller investigation into Donald Trump’s Russian ties, but the extradition case and Assange’s possible arrival in the US will be electrified by all those unresolved issues.
“I know nothing about Wikileaks. It’s not my thing,” Donald Trump told reporters asking for a reaction to the arrest. That is not what he said on the campaign, when he frequently praised the organisation that Assange founded, and which arguably played an important role in getting Trump elected.
Assange’s role in 2016 cut like a meat cleaver through the administration, dividing Trump loyalists on the far right – who see him as a hero persecuted by the “deep state” – from the traditional conservatives who portray him as nothing less than a Kremlin accomplice.
