April 4, 2018 Elizabeth Vos
Earlier today the CIA whistleblower and Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) member John Kiriakou personally sent a letter to the Ecuadorian embassy in Washington, DC, addressed to Ecuador's Ambassador Francisco Jose Borja Cevallos.
The document calls for immediate communication recovery for Editor-In-Chief Wikileaks Julian Assange. One week ago, the internet, phone calls and access Julianfer to visitors completely disconnected on the orders of Ecuadorian President, Lenin Moreno.
A video of Kiriakou delivering a message to the Ecuadorian embassy in Washington is available below:
Wikileaks supporters have amassed both online and on the ground in London to call for human rights to be restored on a continuous basis, since news emerged that Assange had been blocked from contact with the outside world.
The Courage Foundation reports that the same Spanish message that calls on Lenin Moreno of Ecuador to end the isolation of Julian Assange was also presented to the President of Ecuador today. The letter was signed by 338 intellectuals from 33 countries. The effort was coordinated by the Movement of No-Run Workers in Brazil.
John Kiriakou's personal support for this message is very important, given the fact that his former agency is now personally invested in capturing the founders of Wikileaks. Kiriakou recently participated in the online headscarf, #ReconnectAssange, where he spoke to the unfair treatment that Assange might encounter if extradited and prosecuted in the Virgina District's Eastern District, said: "[Assange] is unlikely to get a fair trial in Eastern District of Virginia. "
Those who want to support Assange and Wikileaks can sign a petition calling for the right to free speech to be respected.
A copy of the letter sent by Kiriakou to the Ambassador Francisco Jose Borja Cevallos, as well as the signatories supporting the contents, is provided below.
Your Honour:
We, undersigned, applaud and applaud the Ecuadorian Government's decision to grant asylum, to welcome citizens, and to grant diplomatic status to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
In the case of Mr. Assange, Ecuador has been an example to the international community for its views on transparency and press freedom. Every country should emulate Ecuador.
I was reminded in August 1990 when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait. US President George HW Bush is not sure what the US response should be. He received a call from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. "Now is not the time to waver, George," she told him. Well, now is not the time to waver in our support of Wikileaks and Julian Assange.
It's only because of Wikileaks that we know about war crimes and atrocities committed against Iraqis by US forces. It's because of Wikileaks that we know about the surveillance industry, about unsecured wiretaps and more about NSAs that spy on Americans. And with the appointment of the famous President Trump as Gina Haspel famous as the new CIA director, we know that there is a danger that the CIA will keep its history of torture secret by keeping it a secret.
This is Wikileaks that has been stored, and will continue to be maintained, all Americans are informed of what their government does on their behalf. It was Julian Assange who led the fight. We ask the Ecuadorian Government to continue to strive for transparency and freedom of the press, to continue to be a world leader in honesty and accountability. We call on the Ecuadorian Government to reconnect Julian Assange to the world.
With respect,
John Kiriakou, former CIA counterterrorism officer and former senior investigator, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "
Signers to the letter include:
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and brief president Bogdan Dzakovic, former team leader, Federal Air Marshals Marshall Carter-Tripp, Foreign Service Officer (retired) Ann Wright, Colonel, US Army Reserve and Officer Officer (retired) Robert Wing, Service Officer Philip Giraldi, former CIATodd E. Pierce, Major, Advocate General (retired) CJ Laniewski, Lieutenant Colonel, US Army (ret.) Coleen Rowley, retired FBI special agent and former Minneapolis Legal Advisory CouncilElizabeth Murray , former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence Council (retired) Peter Van Buren, Foreign Service Officer (retired) J. Kirk Wiebe, former senior intelligence analyst and founder, NSARoger Waters, co-founder, Pink FloydAlex Cox, film director, author and producerAnn Wright, Colonel, US Army Reserve and Larry Johnson, former CIA officer and former Foreign Office official