MADRID: Julian Assange has asked Spain to hand a 20-year jail sentence to the head of a security firm who spied on the Wikileaks founder for the United States.
Assange’s lawyers suggested the jail term for David Morales, accused of discovery and disclosure of secrets, bribery, money laundering and illegal possession of weapons, in a statement seen by AFP on Saturday.
Assange was released from a high-security British prison last June after a plea bargain with the US government over Wikileaks’s work publishing top-secret military and diplomatic information.
He had spent five years behind bars fighting extradition from Britain and another seven holed up in the Ecuador embassy in London where he claimed political asylum.
Between 2015 and 2018, the Spanish company Undercover Global oversaw the embassy’s security.
It is owned by Morales, a former military officer who is awaiting trial in Spain.
Assange’s defense argues that in 2016, Morales and US authorities established contact regarding the passing of information about Assange.
A Spanish court concluded that Morales allegedly spied on Assange and handed over “illegally obtained information” about him and other personalities, including several Latin American presidents, with whom he had contact.
The judge said in 2017, Morales installed new security cameras which, unlike the previous ones, recorded confidential conversations the activist had with his defense team, his family members and public figures.
Morales told technicians to enable a real-time streaming system while they were installing the cameras, according to the judge.
“He intended to open two streaming channels for online access, one official one for Ecuador and another for ‘friends of the United States’,” who wanted Assange’s extradition, the investigating judge said.
Assange seeks 20-year jail term for Spaniard who spied on him
https://arab.news/cwnhp
Assange seeks 20-year jail term for Spaniard who spied on him
- Julian Assange was released from a high-security British prison last June after a plea bargain with the US government
- A Spanish court concluded that former military officer David Morales allegedly spied on Assange
Russian army present in six African countries: state TV
- Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be additionally deployed in Burkina Faso, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Libya
- The Wagner group was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived mutiny against Moscow
MOSCOW: The Russian army is operating in six African countries, state TV reported in a rare high-profile acknowledgement of the extent of Moscow’s official military presence on the continent.
Facing isolation in the West following its full-scale offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has tried to build new partnerships in Africa, where it has been growing its political, economic and military footprint in recent years.
“Officers and soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces unit are already operating in six African countries,” a state TV correspondent said in a report broadcast Sunday.
Except from Mali, the report did not specify which countries.
Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be additionally deployed in Burkina Faso, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Libya.
The African Corps unit of the Russian defense ministry took over from the Wagner paramilitary group across the continent, diplomatic sources in the Sahel region told AFP in June.
The Wagner group was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived mutiny against Moscow.
Its troops had been fighting in Ukraine and had been deployed across Africa.
The state TV report identified Africa Corps as part of the Russian defense ministry.
It said most of the soldiers deployed were “veterans of the Special Military Operation,” Russia’s term for the war in Ukraine.
In one shot, a flag with insignia resembling the Wagner group’s trademark skull logo could be seen at what the reporter said was a Russian base in Mali.
The video also showed two Russian bombers launching an attack and displayed heavy Russian equipment including helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Moscow says its forces are helping several African governments repel jihadist insurgencies.
