Imagine being the founder of a whistle-blowing website and the website covering an investigation that involves the main suspect being you. Julian Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks, a website intended to collect and share confidential information on an international scale. WikiLeaks has said it has uncovered a surveillance operation against Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy and that images, documents, and videos have been gathered and offered for sale.
Material that Originated from Ecuadorian Embassy was Reportedly Offered for Sale
Spanish police were said to have started a sting operation against unnamed individuals in Madrid who offered the material for sale in what lawyers and colleagues of Assange said on Wednesday, April 10 was an attempt at extortion. WikiLeaks was told some of the material came from video cameras with a capacity to record audio which had been installed in the Ecuadorian embassy last year.
WikiLeaks said material including video, audio, copies of private legal documents and a medical report had turned up in Spain, where a group was said to have threatened to start publishing unless they were paid three million euros.
Protection of Julian Assange
Ecuador bankrolled a multimillion dollar surveillance operation to protect and support Assange at the embassy, employing an international security company from Cadiz, Spain and undercover agents to monitor his visitors, embassy staff, and even the British police. The matter is now in the hands of an investigating Spanish judge, according to WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks said the surveillance had constituted a total invasion of privacy, which included recordings of Assange’s meetings with lawyers and doctor. Copies of photos, videos, and documents recovered from the alleged extortionists were projected on to a screen at the WikiLeaks press conference. There was no immediate comment from Ecuadorian authorities or Spanish police.
Spanish police still have not released the names of the alleged extortionists, but I am really interested in knowing how people in Madrid were able to obtain all this information on Assange while he was in the Ecuadorian embassy in London being protected and supported by millions of dollars every year. The security company is from Cadiz, Spain so I am curious to know if it was an inside job.
2019 Spain IBUS 3033W 