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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

WikiLeaks founder sought Russian visa in 2010, per AP report [arstechnica.com]

The Associated Press has published [apnews.com] a cache [documentcloud.org] of 10 documents that it says are part of a leaked "larger trove of WikiLeaks emails, chat logs, financial records, secretly recorded footage, and other documents." AP reporter Raphael Satter declined [twitter.com] to elaborate as to how much more material the AP had or why that material was not being released now.

Among those documents is a purported November 30, 2010 effort by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to seek a Russian visa via its London consulate. That's just a week before Assange surrendered to British authorities who sought him for questioning on behalf of Swedish prosecutors who wanted him on allegations of sexual misconduct. By June 2012, Assange had entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has remained since. Assange has denied any wrongdoing in the Swedish case.

[...] This cache adds intrigue to WikiLeaks' and Assange's ongoing saga. Numerous media outlets [theintercept.com] reported [abc.net.au] early last month that Assange's days in the embassy are numbered and that the Ecuadorian authorities could boot him soon. "The files provide both an intimate look at the radical transparency organization and an early hint of Assange's budding relationship with Moscow," Satter wrote.

[...] For its part, WikiLeaks responded shortly after the Associated Press story went live on Monday morning by suggesting that, at a minimum, the visa application document was false, tweeting at numerous media outlets:

Mr. Assange did not apply for such a visa at any time or author the document. The source is document fabricator & paid FBI informant Sigurdur Thordarson who was sentenced to prison for fabricating docs impersonating Assange, multiple frauds & pedophilllia. https://t.co/xzMfhctFx4 [grapevine.is]

Related: Ecuador Reportedly Almost Ready to Hand Julian Assange Over to UK Authorities [soylentnews.org]

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