Extensive 'spying operation' discovered against Julian Assange, WikiLeaks revealsLondon WikiLeaks has discovered an extensive "spying operation" against Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy, gathering data that was used in an extortion attempt, WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson has revealed.
The resulting trove of audio, video, photographs and even copies of private legal documents and a medical report turned up in Spain, where a group threatened to start publishing them if WikiLeaks did not pay them three million euros.
But WikiLeaks tipped off Spanish police who are investigating.
"Extortion is a very serious matter but of much greater concern to me is this material gathering and spying on Julian Assange by the [Ecuador] government and the officials who work on his behalf in the embassy against an individual who was granted asylum and full protection," Hrafnsson said.
"That is in my opinion not only illegal but extremely unethical."
Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson said it was a severe breach of lawyer-client privilege and undermined his legal team’s ability to properly defend their client.
At a press conference in London, Hrafnsson showed copies of the photos, videos and documents recovered from the alleged extortionists.
They included a copy of a lawyer's notes, images from a medical examination and video and photos taken inside embassy rooms showing Assange in various meetings, including with Hrafnsson.
On Monday the government of Ecuador removed an unnamed official from its embassy in London accused of having "worked in a very close way" with Assange.
Last week Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno said Assange had "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum.
He told Ecuadorian radio that Assange "cannot lie or, much less, hack into private accounts or private phones" and he could not "intervene in the politics of countries, or worse friendly countries".
But he indirectly blamed WikiLeaks for helping circulate hacked photos of "my bedroom, what I eat and how my wife and daughters and friends dance", which have spread on social media.
He said there was "proof of espionage, of hacking, of the fact that phones have been intercepted and private conversations, there are even pictures of my bedroom".
WikiLeaks then claimed a "high-level source within the Ecuadorian state" had revealed a plan to expel Assange from the embassy within "hours to days" using the INA Papers offshore scandal as a pretext - and that it already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest.
Assange’s team have canvassed that their client may move back to Australia if he leaves the embassy. He has reportedly been granted a new Australian passport, after the government renewed consular visits to the embassy to check on his welfare.
Assange, 47, has been in the embassy, a small office in an apartment block behind Harrods in Knightsbridge, for almost seven years. He entered on June 19, 2012 and was granted political asylum after exhausting his appeals against an extradition order to go to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault allegations.
Swedish authorities have since closed their investigation saying that it couldn't continue without Assange's presence in their country.
Assange still faces arrest by London police, however, if he steps out of the Ecuadorian embassy for breach of his bail conditions, after failing in a 2018 bid to have the arrest warrant cancelled by an English court.
Assange’s lawyers say he cannot leave the embassy due to the likelihood of being extradited to the US, where they say he would not receive a fair trial.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/extensive-spying-operation-discovered-against-julian-assange-wikileaks-reveals-20190410-p51d07.html
