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Prisoner Imprisoned: the Story of Julian Assange

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Prisoner Imprisoned: the Story of Julian Assange 1 Prisoner Imprisoned: The Story of Julian Assange Written by Leo Sikharulidze 12.04.2019 On April 11th 2019, a 7 year long ordeal of Julian Assange ended with the very result he tried to avoid for all these years, which he spent as a fugitive at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Julian Paul Hawkins (Assange’s birth name) was born in the city of Townsville, Australia in 1971. Assange’s youth was one that could be expected from an average Australian citizen during the respective era, however his first steps into the field of work which ultimately led him to be pursued by the Government of the United States, were made in 1987. The year when Assange started to breach defenses and exploit weaknesses of computer systems, better known as computer hacking under the pseudonym of Mendax.1 The early biography of Assange indicates his willingness to cooperate and more importantly aid the law when in need, “In 1993, Assange gave technical advice to the Victoria Police Child Exploitation Unit and assisted with prosecutions.”2. Assange also managed to be of service to the community when “In the same year, he was involved in starting one of the first public Internet service providers in Australia, Suburbia Public Access Network.”3 Just how did an individual go from being a proactive member of the community to being on the wanted list of the United States Government (as well as Sweden) for such grave offenses such as espionage and sexual assault? The defining moment in the life and career of Julian Assange came when he founded WikiLeaks. His work through WikiLeaks has not always been a source of trouble for him; on the contrary, Assange reached immense popularity and public exposure. In 2010, Assange received the Sam Adams Award 4, the Le Monde readers' choice award for person of the year 5, the Time readers' 1 "No secrets: Julian Assange's mission for total transparency," The New Yorker, 7 June 2010. Retrieved 12.04.2019 2 Steve Butcher, "Assange helped our police catch child pornographers," The Age, 12 February 2011. Retrieved 12.04.2019 3 Robert Manne (March 2011). "The cypherpunk revolutionary: Julian Assange". The Monthly. Retrieved 12.04.2019 4 Ray McGovern, "Julian Assange honored at London press conference," The Real News, 25 October 2010. Retrieved 12.04.2019 5 Sylvie Kauffmann, "WikiLeaks: défis et limites de la transparence," Le Monde, 24 December 2010. Retrieved 12.04.2019 2 choice award for person of the year 6 and last but not least, Assange was designated as the “rockstar of the year” by the Italian edition of Rolling Stone Magazine. 7. Assange was on top of the world; however, his downfall came as unexpectedly as his glory. The initial problems with law for Assange coincided with WikiLeaks publishing a number of documents provided by Chelsea Manning, a former US Army soldier, turned whistleblower. The publishing of the documents provided by Manning elevated WikiLeaks to new heights of popularity and cemented its status as the flagship for worldwide sensitive material publishing. Despite this, at the same time, the release of the Collateral Murder video in April 2010 8, depicting the shooting of 18 people in Iraq, as well as The Afghanistan War Logs in July 20109, The Iraq War Logs in October 201010, The Guantánamo Files in April 201111 and up to half a million of diplomatic communication12 transcripts in November 2010, also made WikiLeaks the target of anger by the international political elite. For some in the world, Assange represents a figure who fights to expose the upper echelons of international governance, providing evidence to expose the “ugly side” of global politics. For others, Assange is an agent, an integral part of Hybrid Warfare, working to benefit the effort undertaken by the Russian Federation in order to undermine western democracies, while for the rest, Assange is just another conspiracy theorist who happens to be crafty with computers. Assange’s downfall started in 2010, by the accusations made against him, which stated that he had committed sexual assault crimes in Sweden. In order to avoid deportation to Sweden, Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London and applied for a political asylum.13 The request for asylum was a success and the reason for this decision was described as the following by the former foreign minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño: “as a consequence of [Assange's] determined defense to freedom of expression and freedom of press… in any given moment, a situation may come where his life, safety or personal integrity will be in danger" 14. The official position of Ecuador at that time could be considered as a serious addition to the claim that Assange is indeed an individual fighting for the universal truth, a hero up against the system. Assange eventually ended up staying the in Ecuadorian embassy in London until 2019, the change 6 Megan Friedman, "Julian Assange: readers’ choice for Time’s person of the year 2010," Time Newsfeed, 13 December 2010. Retrieved 12.04.2019 7 Nick Squires, "WikiLeaks: Julian Assange crowned 'Rock Star of the Year' by Italian Rolling Stone," The Daily Telegraph, 14 December 2010. Retrieved 12.04.2019 8 Collateral Murder on YouTube, 5 April 2000. Retrieved 15.04.2019 9 Davies, Nick; Leigh, David (2010-07-25). "Afghanistan war logs: Massive leak of secret files exposes truth of occupation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15.04.2019 10 "Wikileaks defends Iraq war leaks". BBC. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 15.04.2019 11 Poulsen, Kevin (2011-04-25). "WikiLeaks Releases Guantánamo Bay Prisoner Reports". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 15.04.2019 12 Leigh, David (2010-11-28). "US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomatic crisis". The Guardian. ISSN 0261- 3077. Retrieved 15.04.2019 13 Andrew Hough, "Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder seeks political asylum from Ecuador". The Daily Telegraph (London). 19 June 2012. Retrieved 15.04.2019 14 "Statement of the Government of the Republic of Ecuador on the asylum request of Julian Assange". Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 15.04.2019 3 of power in Ecuador in 2017, adding to the tensions already existing between Assange and Ecuadorian state officials, eventually led to the arrest of Assange by the Metropolitan police who were invited into the embassy by the Ecuadorian side themselves. Ironically, the decision to hand over Assange to the Metropolitan police was made by the administration of President, Lenín Moreno. Assange was a prisoner long before he was actually apprehended. His persona remains divisive, for some he remains a hero, exposing crimes committed by the political elites, while for others, he is a criminal himself, aiding the hostile nations in their effort to erode the unity of western democracies. Whether Assange will be deported to the United States of America and face the court there is not clear yet, his arrest has been condemned by the Russian foreign ministry15, as well as Mr.Snowden (himself residing in Moscow). One could argue that, Assange’s place in history will be defined by his eventual political inclinations as much as by his battle with the law. Assange managed to initiate a clash with reality for the political elites and created a new reality, convincing the elites that their interactions and doings would no longer be kept restricted from the common folk. This in turn will lead to further technological advance to restore the status quo in regards to the security of information. Assange became a hero for the segment of society cheering for him, more precisely, he is in a much more morally superior position compared to let’s say Mr.Snowden, since unlike the latter, Assange will not be living anywhere close to the Kremlin. 15 "Julian Assange's arrest draws fierce international reaction". Fox News. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 15.04.2019 .
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