WikiLeaks: Ecuador cuts internet for Assange
October 18, 2016
WikiLeaks on Monday said the Ecuadorian Embassy in London had cut internet access for Julian Assange, the whistleblowing organization's founder and editor-in-chief.
"We can confirm Ecuador cut off Assange's internet access Saturday, 5 p.m. GMT, shortly after publication of [Hillary] Clinton's Goldman Sachs speeches," the organization noted on social platform Twitter.
"We have activated the appropriate contingency plans," WikiLeaks said in an earlier tweet.
A spokesperson for the organization, speaking with the AFP news agency, claimed the cutoff was directly linked to WikiLeaks' ongoing publications concerning US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Days before the Democratic National Convention in July, WikiLeaks published damning internal emails that revealed a concerted effort to undermine the presidential campaign of Clinton's competitor, Senator Bernie Sanders.
Democratic Party officials and the Clinton campaign have accused Russia of involvement in a series of hacks on the American political party's servers, including "senior-most officials."
However, the anti-secrecy organization has refused to disclose the sources of the hacked material.
The Ecuadorian Embassy in London has declined to comment on the development, according to news agencies.
Assange has lived at the embassy since 2012. He received asylum at Ecuador's diplomatic presence in the UK after a British court ordered him extradited to Sweden for questioning over sex crimes allegations.
WikiLeaks' latest publications concern Clinton's paid speeches to financial giant Goldman Sachs.
ls/cmk (AFP, Reuters)