“Julian Assange embarrassed virtually everyone in power in Washington,” Tucker Carlson said. “He published documents that undermined the official story on the Iraq war and Afghanistan. He got Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired from the DNC. He humiliated Hillary Clinton by showing that the Democratic primaries were in fact rigged.”
Assange is an Australian computer programmer and the founder and director of WikiLeaks. He is currently in police custody in London after having been arrested on 11 April 2019 by the Metropolitan Police Service for breaching his bail conditions in December 2010. He had taken refuge in the Equadorian embassy to avoid arrest previously.
“Pretty much everyone in Washington has reason to hate Julian Assange,” Carlson said. “Rather than just admit that straightforwardly he made us look like buffoons so now we’re sending him to prison!”
Assange’s lawyer has confirmed this was done on the behest of the Trump Administration.
Just confirmed: #Assange has been arrested not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request. @wikileaks @khrafnsson
— Jen Robinson (@suigenerisjen) April 11, 2019
British police were invited to the embassy by the Ecuadorians to make the arrest in a planned operation. Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno posted a video explaining his decision to turn over Assange, because he had “installed electronic and distortion equipment not allowed […] blocked the security cameras of the Ecuadorian mission in London, and confronted and mistreated guards”.
The UN has ruled Assange’s detention a “violation of human rights”.
Important background for journalists covering the arrest of Julian #Assange by Ecuador: the United Nations formally ruled his detention to be arbitrary, a violation of human rights. They have repeatedly issued statements calling for him to walk free–including very recently. pic.twitter.com/fr12rYdWUF
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 11, 2019