George Galloway: 'Julian Assange exposed great crimes & now a great crime is committed against him'

RT
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 11:52 UTC

Julian Assange being dragged outside the Ecuadorian embassy by the British Metropolitan Police on Thursday, April 11 2019

George Galloway has told RT that he is "shocked," Julian Assange, has been arrested, claiming a great crime has been committed against the Wikileaks founder, insisting the Ecuadorian & UK govts should feel ashamed of such action.

Commenting on Assange's arrest on Thursday morning, political firebrand, Galloway, told RT: "I'm very shocked...Julian Assange is a friend of mine, more importantly, a friend of truth, a friend of the people. He exposed great, great crimes and now another great crime has been committed against him. Shame on the Ecuadorian government, shame on the British government and shame on those that let this happen."

Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has spent the last seven years, after Ecuador's president Moreno withdrew asylum. Galloway insists undue pressure was most certainly put on Moreno to act on the long standing issue. "The agent of this crime is Moreno but the ultimate purchaser of this crime is the United States".

It comes only a day after WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, claimed that an extensive spying operation was conducted against Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy. During an explosive media conference Hrafnsson alleged that the operation was designed to get Assange extradited.

The former Labour MP argues that the United States is "increasingly, belligerently and aggressively confronting people and states around the world - this is another big aggression."

Wikileaks have tweeted, claiming Assange has been "arrested for extradition to the United States for publishing."

The whistleblower garnered massive international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks released classified US military footage, entitled 'Collateral Murder', of a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on a number of people, killing 12 including two Reuters staff, and injuring two children.

Comment: Just last week Ecuador was denying WikiLeak's claims that they are planning to expel Assange from their London embassy, and even went as far as scolding WikiLeaks for daring to make such a claim:

Ecuador has denied WikiLeaks' claims that it is set to expel Julian Assange from its embassy in London, rejecting what it called "an attempt to stain the dignity of the country."

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, hasn't left the embassy since 2012. He sought refuge there to avoid arrest and potential extradition to the United States for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables on the website.

The organization has also repeatedly claimed that the U.S. Justice Department is building a criminal case against Assange centered on the leaking of Democratic emails hacked by the Russians in the 2016 election.

On Friday, WikiLeaks tweeted that Assange would be expelled from the embassy "within 'hours to days'" and claimed that Ecuador "already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest."

Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Friday that Assange and WikiLeaks have shown "ingratitude and disrespect" toward the country that has given him protection on its diplomatic soil by fueling rumors that he would be handed over to British authorities.

Ecuador "has made significant expenditures to pay for his stay" and has "endured its rudeness," the ministry said.

ACLU comment on Julian Assange's arrest:

London authorities today arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in relation to an extradition warrant on behalf of U.S. authorities.

Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued the following comment in response:

"Any prosecution by the United States of Mr. Assange for Wikileaks' publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations. Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating U.S. secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for U.S. journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest.

Read also, Wikileaks Founder Assange Dragged Out of London Embassy in Handcuffs After Ecuador Tears up Asylum Deal