Ecuador will give US all documents & devices Assange left in London embassy – report

Ecuador's Attorney General has informed a Julian Assange lawyer that the WikiLeaks co-founder's files, computer, mobile phones and other electronic devices will be seized during a search at the London embassy and sent to the US.

After an unsuccessful attempt by WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson to retrieve Assange's personal belongings from Ecuador's UK embassy, where Assange had been holed up for almost 7 years before his arrest and incarceration last month, the Ecuadorian government reportedly greenlighted the US request to provide it access to the documents and electronic devices left behind by the jailed WikiLeaks editor after he was hauled out of the embassy by the British police on April, 11.

FILE PHOTO: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, May 19, 2017. © REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

The searches inside the embassy quarters formerly occupied by Assange are set to be conducted by police on May 20, El Pais reported, citing a notice sent to Assange's Ecuadorian lawyer Carlos Poveda.

Assange's personal files, his computer, mobile phones, memory sticks, CDs and any other electronic devices uncovered during the searches will then be seized and sent to the US as a part of Ecuador's response to the Department of Justice's judicial request. The US is currently building a case to extradite on hacking charges.

The files contain troves of sensitive information, include Assange's communication with his lawyers and other legal documents – which, the lawyers argue, deprive him of the right to proper defense. Having this data will potentially allow the US to "build and create new charges" to extradite Assange in violation of Ecuador's own asylum policies.

The news of the looming handover came as a bolt out of the blue for Assange's defense team, Poveda told RT Spanish, adding that it's impossible to be sure his things in the embassy haven't been tampered with already.

"Since Mr. Assange left the embassy, we cannot know for sure what has been happening inside these rooms." The lawyers have requested CCTV records for the period since Assange's arrest, Poveda said.

The US has until June 12 to build a case for Assange' extradition. Last week, Assange, who has been serving a 50-week sentence in a maximum-security Guantanamo Bay-style prison for skipping bail, faced an extradition judge for the first time. The WikiLeaks co-founder said he would not surrender himself to extradition for simply "doing journalism" that has earned his site many international awards.

Original: https://www.rt.com/news/459170-assange-documents-us-handover/