The
recent violation of Assange’s rights as both political asylee and
citizen of Ecuador sends a chilling message to Ecuadorians who are
being increasingly targeted for their political views both within
Ecuador and abroad.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
2 - The witch hunt begins
Shortly
after Assange was arrested inside Ecuador’s London embassy,
Moreno’s government began what has been described as a “witch
hunt” against Assange allies living within Ecuador.
Just
hours after Assange was arrested, Ecuador arrested Swedish national
Ola Bini as Bini attempted to board a flight to Japan. Bini, who was
living in Ecuador with valid work and residency permits, was held in
detention without a hearing for 30 hours — the legal limit is 24
hours — and was only provided access to a lawyer after 17 hours.
At the
hearing, which was held around 11 p.m. local time, Ecuador requested
that Bini be given 90 days of pre-trial detention. Notably, Ecuador
did not notify the Swedish Embassy in Ecuador of Bini’s arrest, a
violation of international protocol. On Saturday, Ecuador’s
government claimed that Bini had been charged for “his alleged
participation in the crime of assault on the integrity of computer
systems.” The only evidence against him was the presence of
several electronic devices found in his residence and his having made
several trips abroad in recent years.
Bini was
arrested not long after Ecuador’s Minister of the Interior María
Paula Romo had claimed on Thursday that “Russian hackers” were
present in Ecuador and — along with a WikiLeaks member — were
seeking to “destabilize” the Moreno-led government and
“blackmail” Moreno. Notably, prior to his arrest, Bini had
tweeted about Romo’s claims and likened it to a “witch hunt.”
Since
his arrest, Bini has been alleged to have been the WikiLeaks member
to whom Romo alluded on Thursday. However, Bini — according to a
statement from his Ecuadorian lawyer, Carlos Soria — has never
worked for or collaborated with WikiLeaks, and is merely a software
developer and well-known privacy activist.
Yet,
Bini is a personal friend of Assange and had visited him in Ecuador’s
London embassy on several occasions since 2012. This, along with the
fact that the primary evidence against Bini is the large number of
electronic devices found in his residence, has led many to suggest
that the charges against Bini are political in nature.
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Nearly a year ago, these predictions unfortunately are now reality: https://t.co/gQonJV7uSC— failedevolution (@failedevolution) April 12, 2019
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