Assange lawyers, journalists sue CIA for spying on them

Two American attorneys and journalists allege that the CIA violated their US constitutional protections for confidential discussions with Assange, saying the Wikileaks founder's right to a fair trial has been tainted.

Assange is currently awaiting a ruling on his appeal of the British extradition order to the United States. (AP)

Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have sued the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and its former director Mike Pompeo, alleging it recorded their conversations and copied data from their phones and computers.

The attorneys, along with two journalists also joining Monday's suit, are Americans and allege that the CIA violated their US constitutional protections for confidential discussions with Assange, who is Australian.

They said the CIA worked with a security firm contracted by the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where Assange was living at the time, to spy on the Wikileaks founder, his lawyers, journalists and others he met with.

Assange is facing extradition from Britain to the US, where he is charged with publishing US military and diplomatic files in 2010 related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Robert Boyle, a New York attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the alleged spying on Assange's attorneys means the Wikileaks founder's right to a fair trial has "now been tainted, if not destroyed."

"The recording of meetings with friends, with lawyers and the copying of his attorneys' and friends' digital information taints the criminal prosecution because now the government knows the contents of those communications," Boyle told reporters.

"There should be sanctions, even up to dismissal of those charges, or withdrawal of an extradition request in response to these blatantly unconstitutional activities," he said.

READ MORE: Julian Assange case reflects US, UK hypocrisy on press freedom: China

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jo_cvA8Orc[/embed]

Violation of privacy protections

The suit was filed by attorneys Margaret Ratner Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, and journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz.

They all visited Assange while he was living inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London under political asylum, since withdrawn.

The suit named the CIA, former CIA director and former US secretary of state Pompeo, and the security firm Undercover Global and its chief executive David Morales Guillen.

It said Undercover Global, which had a security contract with the embassy, swept information on their electronic devices, including communications with Assange, and provided it to the CIA.

In addition it placed microphones around the embassy and sent recordings, as well as footage from security cameras, to the CIA. This, the attorneys said, violated privacy protections for US citizens.

Assange is awaiting a ruling on his appeal of the British extradition order to the United States. The charges he faces under the US Espionage Act could bring a sentence of up to 175 years in prison.

READ MORE: Julian Assange lodges appeal in UK court against extradition to US

Source: AFP

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/assange-lawyers-journalists-sue-cia-for-spying-on-them/?feed_id=11343&_unique_id=62fab15f2efca

Russian Police Raid House of State TV Protester Ovsyannikova

Russian police raided the house of Marina Ovsyannikova, the former Russian state television producer who protested the war in Ukraine in a live news broadcast, the journalist said on Wednesday. 

“At 6 in the morning while I was still sleeping, tens of employees of the Investigative Committee and the police stormed into my house. They showed an order for the raid,” Ovsyannikova said on the Telegram messaging app.

“They scared my little daughter. Now I am being taken to the Investigative Committee,” she added. 

Ovsyannikova, 44, became well known in Russia and abroad in March after staging an anti-war picket during a primetime news broadcast on Russia’s state-controlled Channel One, where she was employed as a producer at the time. 

Wednesday’s raids were linked to a criminal case on distributing “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces, a criminal charge punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The case was opened over Ovsyannikova’s solo protest near the Kremlin in July where she held a poster reading "How many more children must die [in Ukraine] before you stop?"

Dmitry Zakhvatov, a lawyer with the OVD-Info human rights watchdog who is representing Ovsyannikova, said the police started searching her home before her legal representative arrived.

Ovsyannikova has been fined twice before for her anti-war actions. 

In July, Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court ordered her to pay 50,000 rubles ($816) for “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces in an interview she gave during a trial against opposition politician Ilya Yashin. 

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/russian-police-raid-house-of-state-tv-protester-ovsyannikova/?feed_id=8998&_unique_id=62f387ce926c1

Slain Al Jazeera journalist's family in US seeking independent probe

The family said it was calling for the United States to launch its own "thorough, credible independent and transparent investigation" into Abu Akleh's murder.

Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist and a prominent Palestinian reporter, was killed on May 11 as she covered an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank. (AP)

The family of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has pressed the United States for an independent probe and accountability from Israel on a visit to Washington at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"For far too long, the United States has enabled Israel to kill with impunity by providing weapons, immunity, and diplomatic cover," Shireen's brother Tony Abu Akleh and her niece and nephew said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Impunity leads to repetition. We are here to do our part to ensure that this cycle ends," they said.

"If we allow Shireen's killing to be swept under the rug, we send a message that the lives of US citizens abroad don't matter, that the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation don't matter, and that the most courageous journalists in the world, those who cover the human impact of armed conflict and violence, are expendable."

READ MORE: How Shireen Abu Akleh inspired a generation of female reporters

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB0qwbo8e8M[/embed]

Criticising Israel for using force

Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist and a prominent Palestinian reporter, was killed on May 11 as she covered an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.

The United States on July 4 released a statement saying she was likely shot by Israeli fire but that there was no evidence her killing was intentional and that the bullet was too damaged for a conclusive finding.

The statement outraged Abu Akleh's family and Palestinian leaders who say that the United States is not seeking accountability from Israel over the death of the journalist, who also held US citizenship.

Israel says it is still probing her death and rejects suggestions it targeted a journalist.

Abu Akleh's family unsuccessfully sought to meet President Joe Biden when he visited Israel and the occupied West Bank earlier this month.

Blinken, however, invited the family to visit Washington, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during the trip.

Blinken had spoken earlier to her family by phone and publicly criticised Israel for using force at her funeral, when police grabbed Palestinian flags and pallbearers struggled not to drop her casket.

READ MORE: Relatives of Abu Akleh reject Israeli probe into funeral violence

Source: AFP

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/slain-al-jazeera-journalists-family-in-us-seeking-independent-probe/?feed_id=2470&_unique_id=62e0327dd16a4