October 10, 2019 "Information
Clearing House"
- The CIA has been caught spying on Wikileaks
founder Julian Assange while he lived under asylum
at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. A former
Ecuadorian diplomat responds to the news.
Undercover Global SL, a Spanish security firm,
recorded Assange during his stay in Ecuador’s London
embassy, and then handed over its footage to the
CIA. “That firm was contracted by Ecuador to protect
the embassy, to protect [Assange], to protect us
from [his] persecutors,” says former Ecuadorian
diplomat Fidel Narváez. “So I find it shocking.”
Guest: Fidel Narváez, former
Ecuadorian diplomat who served at the London embassy
while Julian Assange lived there under asylum
This article was originally
published by "Gray
Zone"--
Spanish security firm spied on Julian Assange
for CIA — report
The London Ecuadorian Embassy's security firm has
been accused of spying on Wikileaks founder Julian
Assange on behalf of the CIA. The report by
newspaper El Pais triggered an investigation by
Spain's National Court.
By Deutsche Welle
October 10, 2019 "Information
Clearing House" - Spanish private
security firm Undercover Global Ltd allegedly spied
on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while he was
living at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London,
newspaper El Pais reported.
The firm, which was responsible for providing
security to the embassy, is said to have delivered
the audio and video surveillance to the United
States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The revelations were part of an investigation by
El Pais, but Assange himself had also
previously made the claim that he was being watched.
El Pais said the evidence it uncovered
led Spain's National Court to formally open an
investigation into the matter.
According to the report, Undercover Global owner
David Morales allegedly directed the surveillance
and was personally responsible for making a deal
with the CIA.
Morales is reported to have asked employees to
keep his firm's collaboration with the US secret.
Streaming surveillance
Undercover Global installed microphones in
several parts of Assange's quarters, using things
like the embassy's fire extinguishers.
The firm also put surveillance systems in the
embassy's female toilets, a place where Assange's
lawyers would meet amid fears that conference rooms
were bugged.
A streaming system was also allegedly installed,
which would allow US officials to directly access
Assange's meetings in real time.
One of those meetings featured a discussion
between the Wikileaks founder and Ecuador's secret
service chief, Rommy Vallejo, where the two
discussed the possibility of smuggling Assange out
of the embassy and enabling passage to another
country through a diplomatic passport.
El Pais said that Assange's bedroom was
not bugged, as employees of the firm worried their
activities could be more easily uncovered there.
While the Spanish newspaper did not specify an
exact timeline for the surveillance, it alleged that
the spying activity increased after current
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno took office.
"There is a criminal case under investigation at
the National Court but it is being conducted in
secret ... and we cannot say anything about what is
being investigated beyond what has been leaked"
Assange's lawyer Aitor Martinez told AFP news
agency.
Martinez said the leak "probably came from
employees at the firm."
Neither Undercover Global nor its owner have
commented to the press about the allegations.
Julian Assange moved into the Ecuadorian Embassy
in 2012, fleeing what he said was a politically
motivated extradition order from Sweden. He was
being sought for questioning over a sexual assault
accusation.
He lived there for seven years. In April, after
tensions rose with the Ecuadorian government, the
Wikileaks founder was kicked out of the residence
and arrested by UK authorities.
This article was originally published by "Deutsche
Welle"--
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