Wikileaks took to Twitter to announce that founder Julian Assange has been “gagged and isolated” by Ecuador’s new leader, President Lenin Moreno.
“Wikileaks editor @julianassange has been gagged and isolated by order of Ecuador’s new president @Lenin Moreno. He cannot tweet, speak to the press, receive visitors or make telephone calls. Ecuador demanded that he remove the following Tweet”
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
According to Wikileaks, the Ecuadorian government has requested Assange remove a tweet he made on March 25th that read:
“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.”
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.
— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange) March 26, 2018
According to their Foreign Relations Ministery, the WikiLeaks founder breached an agreement with the country of Ecuador which barred him from getting involved in other nation’s political affairs, saying that his post jeopardized the relationship between Ecuador, the U.K., and other nations.
Julian Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June of 2012 after Swedish authorities attempted to extradite him due to sexual assault and rape charges — those charges were dropped last year.
As reported by The Washington Examiner:
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.”