HE WAS A SKATER BOY
Julian Assange seen skateboarding inside Ecuadorian embassy in new footage as security firm reveals he spied on staff
JULIAN Assange was filmed skateboarding around the Ecuadorian embassy in strange CCTV footage — as a security firm revealed he spied on staff.
The images show the WikiLeaks founder messing about with the board inside the diplomatic building in Knightsbridge, west London.
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He can be seen wearing a pair of shorts and a vest in the surreal images, obtained by .
The clip comes after a security firm revealed Assange spied on officials during his seven-year stay inside the embassy.
Audio recording devices were found in the area where he lived between 2012 and his arrest last Thursday.
He would turn on the taps in his quarters so the sound of running water would prevent British intelligence and the Ecuadorians listening to what he was saying, security company Undercover Global S.L. revealed.
FATHER'S COMMENTS
Now Assange's dad, John Shipton, has urged Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to intervene and bring him back to Australia.
Shipton, who lives in Melbourne, said the country's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) "should in a nuanced way do something."
He added: "It can be resolved simply to the satisfaction of all. There has been some talk in a meeting between a senator and a senior DFAT official to extradite Julian to Australia."
Mr Shipton also expressed shock at how his son looked as he was being detained on Thursday.
He said: "I saw him, the way they dragged him down the steps, the coppers — he didn't look good.
"I'm 74 and I look better than him and he's 47. It's such a shock."
US CHARGES
The famous hacker is now facing charges in America for "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" after he leaked secret government files in 2010.
Since he was dramatically hauled from the embassy last week, strange stories have been emerging about his behaviour while he stayed there under asylum status.
Staff complained about him riding his skateboard on the polished floors, as well as playing football and generally being untidy.
He was also said to stage "dirty protests" in which he would stuff his underpants down the toilet and leave unwashed dishes in the kitchen.
And employees said they were annoyed by him playing loud music at night.
It was even claimed his cat was taken away from the embassy because he didn't look after it.
CASE AGAINST ASSANGE IN THE US
THE criminal case against Julian Assange in the US was revealed last night.
The WikiLeaks hacker is wanted on conspiracy charges for committing “computer intrusion”.
And he is charged with conspiring with ex-intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning — jailed for 35 years before her sentence was commuted in 2017 — to crack a Department of Defence password.
Assange faces a maximum five years if convicted.
Details of the US investigation emerged in a six-page charge sheet filed at Virginia’s Eastern District court on March 6, 2018.
US prosecutors say Assange knew Manning had already handed over four huge secret databases to WikiLeaks in 2010.
They included 90,000 Afghanistan war reports, 400,000 Iraq reports, 800 briefings on Guantanamo Bay detainees and 250,000 diplomatic cables.
Despite that, he agreed to help crack the password, telling her: “Curious eyes never run dry in my experience.” Later, he asked her for more information to help the operation, adding: “No luck so far.”
The pair used the Jabber online chat service to plot the hack and took measures to cover Manning’s tracks as it unfolded, prosecutors allege.
LAWYER HITS BACK
Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, said today that claims he smeared poo on the embassy walls weren't true.
Ms Robinson told Sky News: "The first thing to say is Ecuador has been making some outrageous allegations. It's a difficult situation.
"Ecuador has made these allegations to justify the unlawful and extraordinary act of letting police come inside an embassy."
CASE AGAINST ASSANGE IN SWEDEN
SWEDISH prosecutors are considering relaunching a rape investigation into Julian Assange.
Officials said the allegations made against him were due to expire under the country’s statute of limitations in August next year.
But his arrest means the investigation could be reopened after a request from an alleged victim.
Deputy chief prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson said: “We will now examine the matter to determine how we proceed. The preliminary investigation has therefore not been resumed yet and we do not know today whether it will happen. We cannot promise any timetable for when decisions will be made.”
Assange was accused of attacking a woman after they met at a WikiLeaks conference in Stockholm in 2010. She alleged that Assange had unprotected sex with her while she was asleep even though she had refused him repeatedly.
The case was dropped in May 2017 after the director of public prosecutions ruled it impossible to proceed while he was under Ecuador’s protection.
But yesterday, the woman’s lawyer Elisabeth Massi Fritz piled pressure on prosecutors, saying: “No rape victim should have to wait nine years to see justice be served.”
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When asked about the truthfulness of certain allegations, Robinson said: "That's not true."
She also said Assange went into the embassy in 2012 to avoid "US injustice" rather than justice in Sweden.
Robinson claims her client "has cooperated with the Swedish investigation" into allegations of rape and sexual misconduct.
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