WikiLeaks founder met
separatists and tweeted on the issue, which sources say triggered a backlash
from Madrid
This article was written in
collaboration with Fernando Villavicencio and Cristina Solórzano
from Focus Ecuador
Julian Assange’s intervention
on Catalan independence created a rift between the WikiLeaks founder and the
Ecuadorian government, which has hosted Assange for nearly
six years in its London embassy, the Guardian has learned.
Sources who spoke on condition
of anonymity said Assange’s support for the separatists, including a meeting in
November, led to a backlash from Spain, which in turn caused
deep concern within Ecuador’s government.
While Assange’s role in
the US
presidential election has been an intense focus of US prosecutors, his
involvement in Spanish politics appears to have caused Ecuador the most pain.
The Ecuadorians cut
Assange’s internet connection and ended his access to visitors on 28
March, saying he had breached an agreement at the end of last year not to issue
messages that might interfere with other states.
Quito has been looking
to find a solution to what it increasingly sees as an untenable
situation: hosting one of the world’s most wanted men.
In November 2017, Assange
hosted two supporters of the Catalan independence movement, whose push for
secession from Spain had plunged the country into its worst
political crisis since returning to democracy.Assange has said he
supported the right to “self-determination” and argued against “repression”
from Madrid.
He was visited by Oriol Soler,
a Catalan businessman and publisher, and Arnau Grinyó, an expert in online
communications campaigns. Their meeting, which was reported
by the Spanish press, took place a little over a month after the unilateral
Catalan independence referendum, and 13 days after the Spanish government
responded to the unilateral declaration of independence by sacking the
administration of the then Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, and assuming
direct control of the region.
Assange has been a vocal
critic of Madrid’s handling of the Catalan crisis and described
the independence movement as “the redefinition of the relationship
between people and state”, and “the most disciplined Gandhian project since
Gandhi”.
What is occurring in Catalonia
is the redefinition of the relationship between people and state. The most
disciplined Gandhian project since Gandhi. Its results will spread everywhere.
Though Assange’s supporters
deny he explicitly supported Catalan independence, his tweets and videos on the
issue annoyed the Spanish government.
A Spanish diplomat told the
Guardian that Spain “conveyed a message” to Ecuadorian authorities that Assange
was using social media to support the secessionist movement and sending out
messages “that are at odds with reality”.
“Spain and Ecuador are obviously
countries that maintain a constant and fluid dialogue in which matters of
interest to both parties, including this issue, are raised and discussed,” the
diplomat said.
“Spain has, on a number of
occasions, informed the Ecuadorian authorities of its concerns over the
activities that Julian
Assange has engaged in while in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.”
The source said Spain’s
foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, had also addressed the issue when it arose in
November, saying attempts had been made “to intervene, manipulate and affect
what should be the natural democratic course of events in Catalonia”.
In December, Ecuador’s
president, Lenín Moreno, reminded Assange that he should refrain
from trying to intervene in Ecuadorian politics.
US intelligence agencies and
Spanish authorities have separately claimed that Russia
has had a hand in their domestic affairs. US agencies have accused
WikiLeaks of working with Russian intelligence to try to disrupt the US
election by releasing
hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and
Spanish officials have suggested that much of the messaging on social media
about the Catalan crisis originated in Russia.
Soler and Grinyó declined to
comment on their meeting with Assange. However, in a tweet written four
days after visiting the embassy, Soler said the Catalan independence
movement sympathised with Assange, as its leaders and activists had “suffered
jail, exile, spying, censorship, injustice, fake news and financial blockades”.
The visit, he added, had been transparent and legal.
In 2016, Assange met two
members of the anti-austerity party Podemos, according to
visitor logs obtained by the Guardian in conjunction with the magazine Focus
Ecuador.
They were Pablo Bustinduy, the
foreign affairs spokesman, and Miguel Ongil, a deputy in the Madrid regional
assembly and a party funding, transparency and anti-corruption expert. Podemos
opposed a unilateral referendum on secession, but said it would in principle
have supported an independence referendum agreed between the Spanish and
Catalan governments.
A spokesman for Podemos told
the Guardian: “Pablo Bustinduy visited Assange in the embassy while on a trip
to London to take part in the pro-remain Brexit campaign. He was accompanied by
Miguel Ongil, a specialist in the fields of transparency and political
participation.
“It was an informal visit,
during which they discussed the issues of protecting whistleblowers, freedom of
expression and information in Europe, and democracy
on the internet. They also inquired after his legal situation.”
A spokesperson for Ecuador’s
foreign ministry said: “[We reiterate that] Ecuador maintains excellent and
fraternal relations with Spain and the vast majority of countries.”
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