WASHINGTON | American lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced on Monday that they would file a complaint against the CIA and its former director, Mike Pompeo, who they accuse of recording their conversations and copying the contents of their phones and computers.
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The lawyers and two journalists who joined the complaint are all Americans and claim the intelligence agency violated their constitutional right to privacy, in this case involving Australian Julian Assange.
They allege that the CIA worked with a security firm hired by the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Julian Assange was then taking refuge, to spy on the WikiLeaks founder, his lawyers, journalists and others he met .
Julian Assange faces extradition from Britain to the United States, where he is accused of publishing diplomatic cables related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010.
According to attorney Richard Roth, representing the plaintiffs, these alleged acts of espionage mean that Mr Assange’s right to a fair trial has “now been tainted, if not nullified” because “the government now knows the substance of these talks.”
“Sanctions should be in place, up to and including dismissing these charges or withdrawing the extradition request, in response to these clearly unconstitutional activities,” he said.
The complaint was filed by attorneys Margaret Ratner Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, and journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz.
It targets the CIA, its former director and ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the security firm Undercover Global, and its President David Morales Guillen.
The complaint alleges that Undercover Global, which was under contract with the Ecuadorian embassy, collected information from the applicants’ electronic devices on behalf of the CIA, including exchanges with Mr Assange, and placed microphones in the building, their recordings as well since remote surveillance images were also sent to the American agency.
Julian Assange has appealed the UK’s decision to grant the extradition request to the United States.
The charges against him could carry a prison sentence of up to 175 years.