The court is about to start its tenth day of hearings into Julian Assange. I am joining by remote video link for @ComputerWeekly. I will post updates here during the day between taking notes. #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Professor Christian Grothoff is about to give evidence, a computer security specialist #Assange
@ComputerWeekly WikiLeaks was attacked by denial of service attacks from November 2010.
@ComputerWeekly WikiLeaks DNS provider decided to terminate WikiLeaks' DNS service because the denial of service attack was affecting other customers
@ComputerWeekly In summary: many people made mirrors of WikiLeaks. Some of them contained encrypted copies of US government documents.
@ComputerWeekly The German newspaper Der Frietag published an article stating that the password has been made public [in a book by David Leigh] and that there were copies of encrypted US cables on mirror servers #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Cryptome, a well known web site in the US published decrypted versions of the WikiLeaks documents. Another websitemade a searchable copy. #Asssange
@ComputerWeekly Court breaks for 15 minutes to allow Profesor Grothoff time to locate a tweet pointing to evidence of publication of unredacted WikiLeaks cables on a website mrkva.eu#Assange
@ComputerWeekly Grothoff has now told the court he has found the tweet and asks how he can submit it in evidence. #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Court takes a break to allow defence counsel to take instructions from #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Case starts again.# Assange. Summers is going over Grothoff's chronology
@ComputerWeekly Court breaks for lunch until 2:10. It is not clear whether a witness will be available this afternoon. #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Edward Fitzgerald QC said that the slippage in the hearing due to a Covid scare meant that evidence will be heard up until next Friday, not leaving time for closing submissions. #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Joel Smith proposed each side submits written closing statements and spends half a day giving verbal submissions #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Defence counsel said it will move on to hearing medical witnesses over the next three days #Assange
@ComputerWeekly People are coming back into the court. It looks like the hearing will resume shortly. #Assange
@ComputerWeekly Thirty minute recess to allow prosecution and defence to discuss which witness they agree could have their statements accepted without cross examination #assange
@ComputerWeekly James Lewis QC for the prosecution objected to calling journalist Andy Worthington to give evidence. He said he had only been informed this morning and had not had time to prepare cross examination. #assange
@ComputerWeekly The defence said that Andy Worthington's evidence would say that prisoners were held in Guantanamo on the basis of evidence extracted under torture from other Gitmo prisoners #assange
@ComputerWeekly Judge Baraitser asked whether she was expected to make a ruling on whether or not prisoners in Guantanamo were tortured. #assange
@ComputerWeekly Lewis for the prosecution said the the US was not party to a case in Strasbourg that made findings on torture in Gitmo and does not accept that evidence #assange
@ComputerWeekly The judge said that it feels like witnesses are being called on a piecemeal basis. Witnesses are being called in an ad-hoc way #assange
@ComputerWeekly Defence said that both sides had agreed a list of witnesses where they agreed there was scope for agreement. #assange
@ComputerWeekly Lewis said that many of the witnesses were repetitive. if we challenge one we have to challenge them all. It would be different if they were all giving evidence on different issues #assange
@ComputerWeekly Lewis said it was not always clear what point each witness was being used to make. #Assnge
@ComputerWeekly Lewis said it was not helped by 200 page submissions from the defence [listing what points were being made by each witness]#Assange
@ComputerWeekly Judge Baraitser is back in court. The defence team has arrived and has asked for the rest of the day to continue discussions with prosecution team. #assange
1/ One of the world’s most prestigious general science journals, Nature, was the target of a two-year-long sustained and virulent secret attack by a conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists with high-level political, commercial and intelligence connections.
2/ The group attempted to have Nature and its staff put under surveillance and investigated by MI5, MI6, the CIA, Mossad, and Japanese and Australian intelligence agencies. They met cabinet minister Michael Gove and asked him to arrange phone taps and electronic surveillance.
3. They called themselves the “Covid Hunters”. Their allegations against science reporting helped fuel an explosion in “lab leak” claims on right-wing conspiracy sites. They pushed their “extraordinary, true story” to a top Hollywood producer in 2020.
Breaking: The high court has granted the US leave to appeal the decision not to extradite #Assange on two further grounds of appeal. This includes challenging the use of evidence from defence expert Professor Matthew Kopelman over Assange's risk of suicide if extradited.
The High Court overturned a decision by Justice Jonathan Swift to reject 2 out 5 grounds of appeal put forward by the US government #Assange
Lord Justice Holroyde and Justice Farbey found the US had an arguable case that Kopelman did not act in accordance with his duty as an expert witness by omitting to disclose #Assange's relationship with his partner Stela Moris and their two children in his first report.
Today the US will begin the process of appealing against the UK court's decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. The preliminary hearing is due to start at 10:30. I am reporting on the case by remote video link. I will post updates here. #Assange
This story summarises the main issues that are expected to be raised today.
The US is arguing for permission to challenge the evidence of medical expert, Michael Kopelman, head of neurospychiatry at King's College London in the Court of Appeal. Kopelman found that Assange had autism, recurring depression, and was at high risk of suicide if extradited.
Around 1600 Belgium police raided 200 premises this morning in one of the largest police operations the country has undertaken. Belgian police have refused to confirm or deny whether the raids are linked with the compromise of the secure phone network @SkyECCofficial#Encrochat
The raids took place between 0500 and 11 am this morning. More than 10 people have been arrested. @SkyECCofficial#Encrochat
Belgium police say it will take months to evaluate the information seized during the raids. @SkyECCofficial#Encrochat
Victory for journalists, press freedom after tribunal finds there is no reason to bar people from using the UK's freedom of information act simply because they are not in the UK. @SMaurizi@estelledehon@EmmanFre@benjameslucas
The decision comes after the First-Tier tribunal stayed 16 Freedom of Information by appeals by journalists and ordinary people, because they were either not UK citizens, or had UK nationality but were living abroad. @SMaurizi@estelledehon@EmmanFre@benjameslucas#FOIA
Today's decision means that the Freedom of Information Act will continue to operate as it always has done for the past 15 years. It is open to any person regardless of nationality or place of residence.@SMaurizi@estelledehon@EmmanFre@benjameslucas#FOIA
Good morning. Today a court will decide whether Julian Assange should be released on bail from Belmarsh Prison, following the decision by Westminster Magistrate's court not to extradite him to the US on espionage charges. #Assange#Assangetrail