Embassy ambushed Assange with arrest to avoid mystery 'panic button' use

Sputnik
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 03:34 UTC

Julian Assange is bundled out of the Ecuadorian Embassy with less than 30 minutes notice.

When Julian Assange learned of his imminent arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Thursday, he wasn't even allowed to go back to his room, because authorities feared he would hit a reported "panic button" with potentially disastrous effects, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Jose Valencia said.

The WikiLeaks founder's arrest Thursday was sudden: immediately after being told of his arrest, British police stormed the Kensington district embassy building and grabbed him, having been warned by Ecuadorian authorities of threats Assange had reportedly made to Jaime Merchan, the Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK: that he would hit a "panic button" that would bring "devastating consequences" to the embassy if he felt threatened or feared arrest.

The details were revealed during remarks by Valencia to the press on Thursday. It's unclear whether the button was literal or metaphorical, or what kind of threat it posed to the embassy.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno made the decision to revoke the Australian journalist's political asylum, which he'd enjoyed since June 2012, when he sought refuge in the embassy after skipping bail. At the time, Assange was wanted for questioning in connection to a sexual assault investigation in Sweden, where he lived, but Assange feared that once in custody, he might be extradited to the United States, where the US Justice Department had reportedly investigated him and even allegedly had a sealed indictment for him, although that specific detail has never been proven.

However, following Thursday's arrest by British police for skipping bail, the US Department of Justice revealed its own charges against him and has sought his extradition, which could follow a May hearing. Assange is charged with conspiracy to help former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning break into a computer and steal classified documents and could face five years in prison. WikiLeaks published many of the documents Manning delivered in 2010, including the "Cablegate" diplomatic communications and "Collateral Murder" video, the latter of which showed US soldiers committing war crimes in Iraq.

Moreno said Thursday that Assange was a "spoiled brat." He had previously fumed about Assange's alleged involvement in leaking documents connecting Moreno and figures in his family and government to various corruption schemes. Assange and WikiLeaks have denied having any involvement in the leak.

Comment: Speculation about Assange's various "deadman switch" files has been rife since 2016

Now that Julian Assange has been arrested in London after seven years in exile at the Ecuadorian embassy, many are wondering if anything will happen with the "dead man's switch" that Assange and WikiLeaks have talked about in the past. Read on for more details about the dead man's switch, its history, and what we know so far about the insurance files.

What's still unclear at this time is what might happen with the dead man's switch that Assange has talked about in the past. WikiLeaks has released numerous insurance files as a type of "deadman's switch." Downloaders get an encryption key, but they need a second one before they can actually unlock the file. The insurance files operate as a type of backup. If anything happens to WikiLeaks, the second key is released, giving everyone access to the file, according to comments WikiLeaks and Assange have made in the past. However, these are typically insurance files to ensure that a pending publication is actually released. It's unclear how many (if any) are actually related to Julian Assange's safety or WikiLeaks' existence in general.