WikiLeaks founder's lawyers julian Assange sued the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and its former director Mike Pompeo on Monday, claiming that they were watching the talks them and copied data from their phones and computers.
The lawyers, along with me two δημοσιογράφους που συμμετείχαν επίσης στη μήνυση, είναι Αμερικανοί και ισχυρίζονται ότι η CIA παραβίασε την αμερικανική συνταγματική προστασία για εμπιστευτικές συζητήσεις στην υπόθεση του Julian Assange, ο οποίος είναι Αυστραλός.
According to the lawsuit, the CIA worked with a company ασφαλείας που είχε συμβόλαιο με την πρεσβεία του Ισημερινού στο Λονδίνο, όπου ζούσε τότε ο Assange, για να κατασκοπεύει τον ιδρυτή του Wikileaks, τους δικηγconditions him, the journalists and in general, everyone he met.
Assange faces extradition from Britain to the US, where he is accused of publishing military and diplomatic documents files of the US in 2010 for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Robert Boyle, a New York lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the suit, said the alleged spying by Assange's lawyers means the Wikileaks founder's right to a fair trial "has now been tarnished, if not destroyed."
"The recording of meetings with friends, with lawyers and copying the digital information of his lawyers and friends taints the prosecution because now the government knows the content of those communications," Boyle told reporters.
"There should be sanctions, even to the point of dropping the charges or withdrawing the extradition request in response to these blatantly unconstitutional activities," he said.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Margaret Ratner Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek and reporters Charles Glass and John Goetz.
They all visited Assange when he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London under political asylum.
The lawsuit names the CIA, former CIA Director and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, security firm Undercover Global and its CEO David Morales Guillen.
He said Undercover Global, which had a security contract with the embassy, was scanning for information their electronic devices, and all of Assange's communications, and made them available to the CIA.
In addition, he placed microphones around the embassy and sent recordings, as well as security camera footage, to the CIA.