London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
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"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×