British Justice blocks Assange wiretapping case

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. File photoMOSCOW, June 9British justice is blocking a case of possible illegal wiretapping of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he was from 2012 until his arrest in 2019, Pais reports, citing a Spanish judge's decision that came into his possession.According to the newspaper , negotiations between Assange and his lawyers were illegally recorded by the Spanish company Undercover Global (UC Global), which guarded the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2015 to 2018. According to the publication, Judge Santiago Pedras of the National Court of Spain believes that the CIA is a possible customer of surveillance.The court called Pompeo as a witness in the Assange case. In a prepared document, he explains to the British authorities why he needs to take evidence from Assange's British lawyers and doctors, who were being monitored. A judge sent a European Investigation Order to the British side more than two years ago, requesting more information, but has not yet received a response. «More than two years ago, a judge sent a European Investigation Order to the apparently uncooperative British judiciary and asked for more information … without receiving an answer yet,» the newspaper writes. According to the newspaper, the lawyers who were bugged in the Ecuadorian embassy and whom Judge Pedras wants to interrogate are now defending Assange in the case of extradition to the United States. The newspaper notes, citing sources, that the evidence what US intelligence agencies have learned about Assange's defense strategy by eavesdropping on his lawyers could invalidate the extradition by calling into question the illegal methods used by the US to get Assange tried in America. In addition, if Spain is allowed to take statements from the lawyers and doctors of the founder of WikiLeaks, «the British judiciary will be in an awkward position.»Nebenzya believes that the US will keep Assange in prison until the end of days In May, Assange's defense filed a motion with the British Home Secretary to block his extradition to the US. London's Westminster Magistrates Court had previously issued an extradition order for Assange to the US, where he faces 175 years in prison. The final decision on extradition must be made by the head of the UK Home Office. Assange became famous in 2006 in connection with his work on the WikiLeaks website, which was founded to publish classified documents. In 2010, the site released classified US military footage showing at least 18 civilians killed in the 2007 US helicopter attack in Baghdad. In 2010, the site also began publishing 250,000 US diplomatic documents. Assange, accused in Sweden in 2010 of sexual harassment and rape, has been hiding since June 2012 in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearing extradition. On the morning of April 11, 2019, he was detained at the request of the United States. Extradition hearings began on May 2, 2019. Shortly thereafter, the US authorities announced that they had filed new charges against Assange for 17 counts of violations of the espionage and disclosure of classified information law. man urged not to extradite Assange to the United States