UN human rights expert to visit Assange in privacy violations probe
Following the dramatic arrest of Julian Assange on Thursday a human rights expert from the United Nations has revealed that he will visit the detained WikiLeaks founder to assess if his privacy has been violated.
Joe Cannataci, a UN special rapporteur on the right to privacy, was scheduled to meet Assange on April 25, along with special rapporteur on torture, Prof Nils Melzer, to investigate the treatment of the whistleblower.
Also on rt.com Assange charged with helping Manning crack password to leak classified US docs – DOJ statementIn a statement sent to RT.com in the aftermath of Assange’s arrest, Cannataci said that the arrest of the 47-year-old will not stop his efforts to assess Assange's claims that his privacy has been violated.
“All it means is that, instead of visiting Mr Assange and speaking to him at the Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in London, I intend to visit him and speak to him wherever he may be detained,” he said.
Cannataci said that he is writing to the UK government to request permission to carry out the April 25 visit and to share his “preliminary concerns.” He added that if Assange is extradited to the US then he will direct his request to the US government.
“Wherever he may be held, or may be located, my mandate will follow,” Cannataci said.
The work of the mandate of the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to privacy in the case of Mr Assange will continue uninterrupted until we shall be in a position to report on our findings, whatever they may be.
The privacy rapporteur said he will also ask a Spanish magistrate for access to “fresh new evidence” of violations of Mr Assange's privacy after WikiLeaks revealed that it uncovered a surveillance operation against Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy.
Also on rt.com Wikileaks accuses Ecuadorian embassy of ‘Extensive spying operation’ against AssangeAssange’s WikiLeaks colleagues said on Wednesday that Spanish police mounted a sting operation against unnamed individuals in Madrid who offered the material for sale in an extortion attempt.
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