Lizzy TomeiAugust 21, 2012 13:34

Michael Moore, Oliver Stone join Team Assange

In a New York Times op-ed, the Academy Award-winning filmmakers side with Ecuador and Assange.

Michael moore oliver stone support assange

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This September 6, 2009 photo sows directors Michael Moore and Oliver Stone attending a lunch at the Quatro Fontani Hotel during the 66th Venice Film Festival. (Gareth Cattermole/AFP/Getty Images)

Hollywood director Oliver Stone and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore have written an op-ed published in The New York Times supporting embattled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the country that recently offered him asylum, Ecuador.

Assange asylum: What do Ecuadoreans think?

Simeon TegelAugust 21, 2012 09:57

QUITO — President Rafael Correa’s decision to offer Julian Assange asylum appears to have divided citizens of this South American country. Some regarded the move as a humanitarian gesture while others viewed it as a ploy to distract voters from Correa’s own problems, as he seeks re-election to a third term. Yet even some who disagreed with the asylum offer for WikiLeaks’ founder rejected the British government’s suggestion that it would withdraw diplomatic status from the Ecuadorean embassy in order to arrest the Australian.

'Operation Free Assange': Tug-of-war takes to the web with a series of cyber attacks

Lizzy TomeiAugust 20, 2012 18:33

WikiLeaks versus AntiLeaks, Anonymous against the powers that be...the international row over Julian Assange has sparked a series of online battles between groups claiming to represent the interests of free speech or rule of law.

US: Assange making 'wild assertions' to distract from sex allegations

Lizzy TomeiAugust 20, 2012 16:45

"The real issue...is whether he is going to face justice in Sweden," a State Department spokeswoman said.

In Ecuador, a quiet war on whistleblowers

Simeon TegelAugust 20, 2012 08:56

QUITO — As Julian Assange spoke from a balcony in Ecuador’s London embassy Sunday, journalists here might have been forgiven for bursting into incredulous laughter. The WikiLeaks founder claimed that “freedom of expression and the health of all our societies” was under threat. According to press freedom groups, that is exactly the scenario now unfolding in Ecuador, the tiny South American nation whose support the 41-year-old Australian was eulogizing.

Julian Assange statement: WikiLeaks founder speaks from Ecuador embassy balcony in London (VIDEO)

News DeskAugust 19, 2012 09:32

Assange thanked his backers and the Ecuadorean government, including President Rafael Correa, for supporting him.

Julian Assange’s fate spins into a major international crisis

Simeon Tegel August 19, 2012 08:50

QUITO — Julian Assange’s supporters have upped the ante against Great Britain in their battle to prevent his arrest and extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes. The suggestion that British police might not even wait for the 41-year-old Australian to leave the Ecuadorean embassy in London to arrest him drew the ire of Vladimir Putin’s government in Moscow, opposition newspapers in Ecuador and Ecuador's leftist South American allies.

Julian Assange asylum to be discussed by OAS

Mariya KarimjeeAugust 18, 2012 08:42

The Organization of American States (OAS) has called a meeting of foreign ministers next week to discuss the impasse between Ecuador and the UK over Julian Assange's legal status.

Assange asylum legal redux: what are we really talking about, here?

Lizzy TomeiAugust 17, 2012 11:30

Can the UK raid Ecuador’s embassy? How would Assange even get to Ecuador? What about diplomatic immunity? Which country’s laws apply here, and what's the role of international law? In an effort to find clarity, GlobalPost broke down some of the basics.

Assange asylum: Ecuador’s statement, decoded

Simeon TegelAugust 17, 2012 06:00

LIMA — Despite the dense legalese, Ecuador’s official statement announcing the decision to grant Julian Assange asylum makes for a colorful read. The six-page, Spanish-language document says the WikiLeaks founder faces “political persecution” by Washington and includes the suggestion that the US executes dissidents.