Updates to this story
* UPDATE Assange appeared in court later in the day and was refused bail. He's been remanded until another hearing next week. He said at today's hearing that he would fight extradition.
Julian Assange, the Wikileaks spokesperson and so-called terrorist, has been arrested by the Metropolitan police.
Sky News got the scoop. Scotland Yard said last night that it would pursue Assange over sex crime allegations. A fresh warrant has apparently been received by Assange's lawyer and is being looked over now.
Assange and his lawyer both maintain that this is about politics rather than bringing him to book. All along he has been outspoken about the rape allegations being a "smear" but the actuality of understanding and dismissing sex crimes is murkier and more difficult.
The US is royally angry at the shock haired Aussie. Assange, 39, has had calls for his execution by US officials, while Wikileaks is troubled financially and otherwise. It has been labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and has had funding and hosting pulled in its logistics chain - Amazon, Paypal, its DNS service and Mastercard are just some outfits to have distanced themselves.
According to Mastercard: "MasterCard rules prohibit customers from directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal." You've got to consider who makes the laws - they have the power on face value. But Assange promised, as one commenter mentions below, that Wikileaks is not just Assange. He is Wikileaks' spokesperson and a useful scapegoat.
A warrant was put out for Assange shortly after the leaked diplomatic cables - more of which continue to pour through. Interpol, Sweden and the US are calling for his blood or his arrest - with the UK pledging it would arrest him last night.
Details of the alleged arrest are hazy. This is just the latest in an ongoing data war, with Wikileaks only the very tip of the iceberg.
*Update According to ITV's sources, Julian Assange will appear in court, 2pm, London.
You can expose Yankee dirty laundry, but don't screw with Sweden.
And yes it's pretty clear that the timing isn't exactly coincidental
Assange has also warned that these documents are in the hands of over 30 people and the documents will continue to flow.
More specifically, the most controversial documents haven't been released yet, and will be released if the US interferes with Assange or Wikileaks.
To all the people living in FREE democracies, do you americans still believe your free.
Blackmail is so petty, release the documents or don't.
BTW, there is some more information on the details on Crikey. (It's written in his defence.)
1. The rape charges are a CIA plot to get him out of the media glare and into bad dungeons with everyone. Pure CIA PR claptrap. And they won.
2. Usually, foreigners do not get BAIL as easily as nationals living in the UK, even with guarantors and money at the ready. Foreigners are seen by the law in all countries as flight risks. So not giving St Julian bail was par for the course. He will spend 7 days in the slammer and then he get more time on Dec. 14, he won't get bail then either....Of course not! The CIA has got him their sights now. He is a dead possum on the road to Timbucktoo!
3. He didn't use condoms, Oh oh oh. What rubbish. Those Swedish women are paid plants. Come on, world media. Wake up!
4. CNN reporter Atika Shubert in London covering the trail, er, trial, has the HOTS for St Julian, it is obvious. Watch her!
Do you think Russians and Chinese, not to mention everyone else will want to risk having their confidential information shared with everyone? If you are involved in any Wikileaks' activities, you are asking for trouble.
'esquire' barry, you're kidding, right? Giving himself to CIA might be only way Ass-ange gets to continue living. I expect someone to stick him in the leg with an umbrella tip dosed with toxins any day now. And it won't be by the CIA.
And yes, being an Aussie male, he is stupid enough not to realize that in Scandinavian countries, women's rights are taken very seriously. Do you have any proof these women were paid plants? Or are you just displaying your ignorant stupidity publicly?
Who cares if some lonely 'reporter' has the hots for him, that's her problem.
We know why Assange is there. Mr. Hill is there because of his work exposing governmental coverups regarding the 7/7 terrorist bombings in London. The media is spouting off madly about Assange but are keeping TOTALLY silent about John Hill and his "7/7 Ripple Effect" movie. Why so one-sided?
Google: “7/7 Ripple Effect”.
Assange calls his work ''SCIENTIFIC JOURNALISM''
meaning?
In UK, Doug Saunders of the Globe and Mail links to a blog post by Alastair Campbell, the former Labor party spin guru which begins: “Once a newsworthy event becomes a full-blown media frenzy, there comes a point where separating fact from fantasy, comment from conspiracy, and hard information from spin becomes virtually impossible.”
Mastercard folo
The website of the credit card company was apparently hacked and partially paralysed in revenge for its decision to block donations to Wikileaks. Rory Cellan-Jones at the BBC tweeted: “Mastercard says it’s experiencing ‘heavy traffic on its external corporate website’ but says its still accessible and no impact on payments.” PayPal appeared to have suffered a similar attack.
*****In a tweet that rapidly spread, Gus Sentementes at the Baltimore Sun observed that: “Visa, Mastercard cut off Wikileaks. But apparently no problem with the KKK? This true?”
[Visa, Mastercard cut off Wikileaks. But apparently no problem with the KKK? This true? http://www.kkk.com
Gus Sentementes
Tech Reporter
Baltimore Sun
'' CLICK HERE TO USE YOUR VISA ,MASTER CARD, or Personal Check TO JOIN THE KNIGHTS' PARTY''
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Arrested the genoese Assange
As the Australian Italian Assange also want him in jail. The spy who stole confidential documents and electronic cable financiers, lawyers, professors, Iranians, social centers will end up in prison.
The trap of the secret services for quite a while will no longer bother. Unless you leave the computer (as Assange). Could intercede for him his friend Putin (including former secret agents, there is always a bit of solidarity).
From Il Secolo XIX newspaper of Genoa today:
Pesto’s Wikileaks, the Genoese Assange ends with arrests
Altana Peter, 45 years old, a former secret service employee, for newspapers and many blogs has become a sort of genoese Julian Assange. And the constant and widespread dissemination of confidential files on the business full-bodied of Genoa (maxi mergers of public companies, studies on the revolutions of the traffic, background information on the work of luminaries of science and especially malfeasance within the bank) keeps close to the figure of at least the suggestion Australian journalist, who made her blush with cable chancelleries over the world.
Doing the right proportions of fame and weight of the mutual scoop, there is another detail in common with a few hours, and is purely judicial. As the creator of Wikileaks, a few days ago, was jailed in London for a crime "disconnected" to the pandemonium of these days (the accusation of rape is to have two Swedish girls forced to have unprotected sex) as well the 007 that targets the Genoese came to a standstill, in this case "home". Proved fatal to the conviction 'final' documents for stolen many years ago. At the same time, Altana, is one of the main suspects for the files that between October and November were circulated through the Indymedia site antagonist, confidential documents against the Carige bank, secret messages inside your local authorities or the scientific director of the Gaslini Hospital, Lorenzo Moretta.
http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/genova/2010/12/11/AMQLEDPE-wikileaks_assange_genovese.shtml