Embassy cuts Assange’s internet after stand off over Catalan leader

ELECTRIC jammers have been placed inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to prevent WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange having access to the internet or social media.

The Ecuadorian government took the measure on Tuesday evening, stopping Mr Assange from tweeting, using the internet or phone.

He has also been refused any visitors to the embassy, where he has been living since June 2012, believing he will be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he leaves. The measures follow the publication of an article in the Ecuadorian Press concerning Mr Assange’s tweets about the arrest of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in Germany this week.

In a phone call to Mr Assange’s lawyer on Tuesday, an adviser to Ecuadorian foreign minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said the WikiLeaks founder must stop tweeting about the Catalan issue.

He was also asked to erase a tweet that said: “In 1940 the elected president of Catalonia, Lluis Companys, was captured by the Gestapo, at the request of Spain, delivered to them and executed. Today, German police have arrested the elected president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, at the request of Spain, to be extradited.”

Mr Assange (left) did not erase the tweet.

His lawyer was told that a decision had been taken to isolate Mr Assange by preventing him from communicating with the outside world, and that this was “by order of the president”, said sources.

The serving Ecuadorian ambassador to Washington DC, Francisco Carrion, yesterday tweeted: “The decision of the government of Ecuador to prevent Assange from tweeting is correct.”

The Ecuador government added in a statement: “The government of Ecuador has suspended the systems that allow Julian Assange to communicate to the outside of the Ecuador embassy in London.

“The measure was adopted due to Assange not complying with a written promise which he made with the government in late 2017, by which he was obliged not to send messages which entailed interference in relation to other states.” WikiLeaks sources said there was no such agreement.

Former Greek minister Yanis Varoufakis and musician Brian Eno said in a statement: “Only extraordinary pressure from the US and Spanish governments can explain why Ecuador’s authorities should have taken such appalling steps in isolating Julian.”

They stressed the Ecuadorian government had only recently granted Mr Assange citizenship, adding that it must have been “leaned on mercilessly” to pursue a move that could block a diplomatic solution and drive Mr Assange out of the embassy.