The arrest of Julian Assange caused a stir throughout the world. The leading politicians and media are commenting on the events in London. The Kremlin hopes that the rights of the WikiLeaks founder will be respected. Press Secretary for the President Dmitry Peskov stated that today. In turn, Spokeswoman for the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova stressed that the police operation to detain Assange gives the complete impression of a blatant and gross disregard for human dignity. They summed it up by saying that the hand of democracy strangles freedom.
But American leader Donald Trump unexpectedly claimed that he knew nothing about the arrest of Assange and that he doesn't have an opinion on the charges. Meanwhile, the European press noted that this arrest, in amazing ways, coincided with the difficult situation around Brexit. Therefore, it's possible that everything that's happening is another attempt to distract the British from the difficulties of leaving the EU. Active users on the web note that Assange has already left the embassy of Ecuador and the UK hasn't withdrawn from the EU yet.
But in any case, it's clear that all roads now lead to the United States, which has sought extradition of Assange from Europe for years. What does Washington prosecute the founder of WikiLeaks for? And what is it going to do to him?
Our correspondent in the US Valentin Bogdanov has the details.
The American Department of Justice has waited for this day for long nine years during which Julian Assange turned into a real nightmare for the US with its dark affairs in various parts of not only in the real but also the virtual world. It all started with the arrest of Private First Class Bradley Manning who was an expert in analyzing the reconnaissance data in the 10th Mountain Division as part of the US contingent in Iraq. They both are accused of conspiracy.
"The main purpose of the conspiracy was to help Manning receive and transfer classified information relating to the national defense of the US so that WikiLeaks could publicly disseminate information via its website".
There were 391,832 military reports that, thanks to Manning, were leaked to WikiLeaks, called the Iraqi Dossier. In them, data on the deaths of 110,000 people, 66,000 of whom were civilian Iraqis, were described in the language of dry army statistics. According to Assange's website, an average of 31 civilians died every day in the country occupied by the US. With these exact figures, the website proved that the Pentagon blatantly lied, while its generals assured the Americans that they didn't keep records of civilian casualties.
- I see armed people. 26, it's number 18. I have 5-6 people holding an AK-47.
- Report when you're close and shoot. Teach them what's what! Fire! Keep shooting!
This is footage from the first report made in July of 2007. A gunner in an American helicopter mistook a camera lens for an optical sight and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger. Machine gun fire and missiles didn't leave anyone alive. After the shooting, it turned out the victims were Reuters journalists and the people accompanying them. WikiLeaks also exposed the torture of prisoners. The site describes beatings, whipping, torture by fire, and even a case when they cut off several fingers.
The White House and the Pentagon knew about WikiLeaks' plans to declassify the documents obtained by the site but they failed to prevent them from appearing in the public domain. Moreover, Assange and Manning were then presented as the main perpetrators.
Geoff Morrell, former Press Secretary for the Defense Department: "Everything is described there: how we respond to the bombings of our cars, how quickly we're able to deploy the defense, the capabilities of our weapons and equipment that is, information that can be directly used against us. That's why, first of all, that data was kept secret".
The so-called Afghan diaries were also to remain secret. In total, the US spent $300 billion on the war in Afghanistan but they failed to defeat the enemy.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder: "Children are being killed there, our allies are being killed. It's the truth about what's really happening in Afghanistan".
A year later, WikiLeaks published the data on the torture in Guantanamo. The documents exposed the systematic arbitrariness by the prison administration. Many of its prisoners ended up in it either by mistake or became the subject of earnings. Obama was going to close Guantanamo but didn't do it. However, Assange also crossed the Democrats. After the events on the Maidan and in Crimea, WikiLeaks published a secret report by Deputy Secretary of State William Burns from 2008 on the possible eastward expansion of NATO. Two years later, on the same website, they exposed the NSA's activities in which kept tabs on the US's main allies — Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. However, the most serious blow to the previous administration, of course, was the revelations by Edward Snowden. It was WikiLeaks who sent Assange's associate Sarah Harrison to Hong Kong and conducted a special operation to help Snowden.
"This is how he commented on the arrest in London. Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of — like it or not — award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books. Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom".
But Hillary Clinton is sure to cheer. She and her supporters are sure that the publication on WikiLeaks of the e-mails of the members of the Democratic headquarters became a turning point for the outcome of the last elections. During the investigation, Special Counsel Mueller charged 12 Russians in absentia, who were considered to be hackers in the US. According to the American Attorney General’s Office, it was they who handed over secret documents to Assange's website, which put an end to Clinton's presidential ambitions. The head of WikiLeaks considers the email in which she informed the head of her headquarters, Podesta, that ISIS is funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to be one of the most important Clinton messages. By a strange coincidence, it was these countries that made large contributions the Clinton Foundation when she was secretary of state.
Julian Assange: "During Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, total arms exports by the US doubled in monetary terms".
For cooperation with Assange, Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years. While he was in prison, he changed his sex. Now, her name is Chelsea. Chelsea was released a couple of years ago.
In the case of extradition, the founder of WikiLeaks will appear before court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Cases connected to national security are usually held there. In America, on charges connected with the Iraqi dossier, he faces up to five years in prison. But who can guarantee that this isn't only the beginning?
Valentin Bogdanov and Ivan Utkin for Vesti from the USA.
