Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UK inexplicably bars WikiLeaks editor from extradition hearing day after Assange handcuffed 11 times & STRIPPED twice

UK inexplicably bars WikiLeaks editor from extradition hearing day after Assange handcuffed 11 times & STRIPPED twice

Wikileaks editor Kristin Hrafnsson was temporarily barred from the extradition hearing for publisher Julian Assange, who was reportedly handcuffed 11 times, stripped twice, and robbed of his legal papers after the first court day.

Hrafnsson was pulled out of the crowd as he attempted to enter the public gallery of Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday morning, he told RT, after someone shouted “Where is the WikiLeaks editor?”

Explaining that he was given “no grounds” for the order and was unable to locate the head of the court to get an answer, he recorded and released a statement denouncing his exclusion from the supposedly-public proceedings as “outrageous” and calling on the public to “demand some answers - because I’m not getting any.”


Assange’s father John Shipton also walked out in solidarity, while the publisher’s lawyer Gareth Pierce worked to get Hrafnsson permission to enter. He was finally approached and told “a misunderstanding had occurred,” given a verbal apology and allowed to enter the public gallery, but his exclusion was never explained. Hrafnsson has demanded an explanation in writing and a formal apology. The WikiLeaks editor was equally disgusted by the treatment of Assange himself, who was -according to his lawyer -handcuffed 11 times, stripped twice, and deprived of his legal papers following the conclusion of the first day of hearings. “How can anybody prepare for a trial when he is treated in this manner?” Hrafnsson asked, calling the UK’s handling of its high-profile prisoner “highly abusive.”

Hrafnsson is not optimistic about Assange’s future, noting that the “English court is being misled by Americans who are trying to abuse the process of extradition by mere fabrications.” The cramped quarters -just 12 or 13 seats in the public gallery, while the legions of protesters are kept outside the court compound “for no apparent reason” -are “totally inadequate for a trial of this importance,” he said, observing that despite London’s claims, the hearing is “not being held in public.”

Assange is facing extradition to the US, where he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison on a bundle of espionage and hacking charges stemming from the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of classified Department of Defense files that have come to be known as the Afghan and Iraq War Logs. The US has continued to argue that the disclosures put political dissidents and journalists in danger, but no names of “victims” or other proof have been supplied to back up that assertion.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×