WikiLeaks announced on Wednesday that its founder and editor, Julian Assange, has been “gagged and isolated” by Ecuador’s new leader, President Lenin Moreno.
Assange has been living in Ecuador’s embassy in London since June 2012 after Swedish authorities tried to extradite him over sexual assault and rape charges. The case was dropped last year, but a British warrant over Assange’s breaching the 2012 bail conditions is still valid.
According to WikiLeaks, Assange “cannot tweet, speak to the press, recieve [sic.] visitors or make telephone calls.”
Wikileaks editor @julianassange has been gagged and isolated by order of Ecuador’s new president @Lenin Moreno. He cannot tweet, speak to the press, recieve visitors or make telephone calls. Ecuador demanded that he remove the following Tweet: https://t.co/uaDAEBKtwR
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 28, 2018
WikiLeaks also said that the Ecuadorian government requested that Assange remove the following March 25 tweet from Twitter, which has not been taken down:
“In 1940 the elected president of Catalonia, Lluis Companys, was captured by the Gestapo, at the request of Spain, delivered to them and executed. Today, German police have arrested the elected president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, at the request of Spain, to be extradited.”
In 1940 the elected president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, was captured by the Gestapo, at the request of Spain, delivered to them and executed. Today, German police have arrested the elected president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, at the request of Spain, to be extradited.
— Julian Assange ⌛ (@JulianAssange) March 26, 2018
This was the only tweet the Ecuadorian government asked be removed, according to WikiLeaks.
Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia, was detained in Germany on Sunday on an international arrest warrant. He had been accused of rebellion and misuse of public funds.
The posts from WikiLeaks comes after a report was published from the Wall Street Journal that claimed Ecuador cut Assange’s communications access after he condemned the United Kingdom and its allies.
The criticism from Assange was prompted after the U.K. and other nations expelled Russian diplomats after a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in the U.K. earlier this month.
The U.K. has blamed Russia for being behind the attack, although Russian officials have denied that Russia was responsible for the poisoning, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the accusations were a result of “delirium.”
Assange said the expulsions were “poor diplomacy” and said it would assist Russia “further a narrative that is under conspiratorial siege led by the U.S.”
According to Ecuador’s Foreign Relations Ministry, Assange had breached an agreement with Ecuador that barred him from becoming involved in other nation’s political affairs and that his social media posts jeopardized the relationship between Ecuador, the U.K., and other nations.
WikiLeaks is well known for publishing stolen secrets on its website. A U.S. intelligence community assessment determined last January that WikiLeaks was a cover for a Russian intelligence operation.
Ecuador previously cut of Assange’s access to the Internet after WikiLeaks published emails they had obtained from Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.
