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Comment by enriquto | Hacker News Reader

Assange's communications have been cut down due to the overwhelming pressure of the Spanish government into Ecuador. This is clearly explained in the official communication of the Ecuador government : https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZY7pY1WkAALgkz.jpg (could not find a better link)

The reason is that he was tweeting again in favour of Catalan Republicans, more precisely against the current wave of political prisoners that Spain is taking, including probably the last Catalan elected president, now under custody in Germany.

This is confirmed by Assange himself in his last tweet "I have no right to twit about political prisoners."

The guy is now a hero to many catalans. He will be an honorary citizen of the forthcoming Catalan Republic, and there are already talks of erecting a statue of him in the center of Barcelona!

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Did you read the article? It includes your image, and says that is not the reason this time. The example you quote was when he was given his first/last warning. This time he was cut because he commented on the UK/Russia poisoning thing.

Well, there may be multiple causes. However I think that the catalan cause is a stronger explanation because

1) the spanish nationalist media is all histerical about this event, thanking Ecuador for its help and solidarity

2) this comes just one day after Assange started re-tweeting again about Catalonia, after several months of radio silence about the subject

3) he has always been commenting about russia, the uk, and many other things.

4) The UK can not effectively cut the connection to Assange, only Ecuador (by threatening to expel him from his embassy).

Wikileaks confirmed that the infringing tweet was about Spain: https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/979107967768330240

> Wikileaks editor @julianassange has been gagged and isolated by order of Ecuador's new president @Lenin Moreno. He cannot tweet, speak to the press, recieve visitors or make telephone calls. Ecuador demanded that he remove the following Tweet:

> [Assange's tweet] "In 1940 the elected president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, was captured by the Gestapo, at the request of Spain, delivered to them and executed. Today, German police have arrested the elected president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, at the request of Spain, to be extradited."

> This is the only tweet the government of Ecuador asked to be removed. In an email to his London lawyers on 27 March at 14:54 BST the Ecuadorian foreign ministry referenced no other matter.

Hopefully your downvote is some due to automated mechanism.

Complete shot in the dark-time.

Since many say that Russia is behind Wikileaks and Russia said they would respond to the diplomat expulsion.. Russia somehow pressured Ecuador into cutting his internet to trigger Assange's dead mans switch?

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