Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Syrian sources: The Israeli occupation has begun withdrawing from the areas it infiltrated last night in the Quneitra countryside.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Massive bombings in eastern Gaza, the second within half an hour, and its sound was heard from central area.
Russian air defense units destroyed a drone that was heading toward Moscow.
Maduro: Tomorrow, a business meeting will be held bringing together hundreds of entrepreneurs from advanced Russian industries with hundreds of Venezuelan businesspeople.
Maduro: In the face of threats, Trinidad and Tobago agreed to suspend all effects of the energy agreement and everything that had been agreed upon in that regard.
Maduro: It’s time to make a choice, either stand with the warmongers who want death and violence, or stand with life.
Maduro: They want our wealth. This is not about drug trafficking, and they know it.
Maduro: Everyone in the world knows that what the economic elite ruling the United States seeks today is Venezuela’s oil, gas, and gold.
Maduro: The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago is complicit and promoting war due to her personal, physical, mental, and moral weaknesses.
President Nicolás Maduro: A series of arrests have been carried out against what could be a group of mercenaries trained and funded by the CIA.

Desperate to strengthen their case, FBI restarts Julian Assange probe

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Sunday Morning Herald
  • 1 Jun 2023 18:56
  • 3 Shares
4 Min Read

Three years after the US prosecutors indicted Assange, Assange's attorneys are unpleasantly surprised to learn of the FBI's recent effort to restart the Julian Assange probe.

  • x
  • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looks up as he retreat from the window of Ecuadorian Embassy in central London after making a statement to the media and supporters outside, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. (AP)
    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looks up as he retreats from the window of Ecuadorian Embassy in central London after making a statement to the media and supporters outside, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012 (AP)

In a report on Wednesday, The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that US authorities are attempting to gather new evidence about Julian Assange in an apparent effort to strengthen their case against the Wikileaks founder, even as hopes grow among his supporters that a diplomatic breakthrough will soon see him released from prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last week sought to speak with renowned novelist Andrew O'Hagan about his time serving as a ghostwriter on Assange's autobiography more than ten years ago, according to reports in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

O'Hagan said he would not consent to an FBI interview because he opposes any attempt to punish him for publishing sensitive information. O'Hagan is known for writing a well-known and frequently critical essay about the breakdown of his working relationship with Assange.

US desperate to charge Assange

Since it has been three years since US prosecutors indicted Assange, Assange's attorneys were unpleasantly surprised to learn of the interview request. They had not previously assumed that Assange was the subject of an ongoing investigation.
 
Assange’s Australian lawyer Stephen Kenny said: “It appears they are continuing to try to investigate, which I find unusual given the amount of time that has passed since the investigation began."

“I would think it is of some concern because we have been working to try to secure an arrangement that would see Julian come home. It would be very unusual if the FBI was trying to gather evidence that could help clear his name.”

Related News

Former US officials urge dropping charges against former FBI director

Venezuela moves to suspend energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago

That said, Kenny said he was not aware of any other recent attempts by US authorities to interview witnesses about Assange.

Read next: Brazilian President says Assange's imprisonment is an 'embarrassment'

In order to secure Assange's release from London's high-security Belmarsh Prison and prevent a potentially lengthy prison sentence in the US, Assange's UK-based attorney Jennifer Robinson stated last month that his legal team was open to a David Hicks-style plea deal if necessary.

Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Assange, claimed that it appeared US prosecutors were working on a fresh or superseding indictment against Assange. “It shows they understand how weak the charges against Julian are and are trying to strengthen them,” he said.

O'Hagan refuses attempts to silence Assange 

London Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism command delivered a letter to O’Hagan last week saying FBI officers in Washington, DC, wanted to speak to him. “The FBI would like to discuss your experiences with Assange/ WikiLeaks as referenced in The Unauthorised Autobiography of Julian Assange and Ghosting,” the letter said, referring to the titles of the Assange autobiography and a 2014 essay by O’Hagan in The London Review of Books.
 
O’Hagan said that he was not going to give a witness statement against Assange, who he described as a journalist being pursued for telling the truth, adding that he would happily go to jail before supporting the US security establishment. 

Read next: 48 Australian politicians demand US to abandon Assange extradition

He said he was surprised the FBI investigation was still ongoing and he believes the attempt to interview him “shows some desperation on their part”. “They are using the Espionage Act to victimize an organization that sought to hold governments to account,” he said.

While prosecutors claim that Assange "actively solicited" classified material and endangered lives by publishing the unredacted names of individuals who provided information to US diplomats around the world, Assange's supporters claim that he is being punished for publishing embarrassing information.

  • United States
  • Andrew O'Hagan
  • FBI
  • Julian Assange

Most Read

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

  • Technology
  • 24 Oct 2025
Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

  • Africa
  • 23 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Delta Air Lines flight lands at Harry Reid International Airport, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Las Vegas (AP)
Politics

Nearly 3,800 US flights disrupted amid ongoing government shutdown

FILE - The Amazon logo is pictured at the Amazon Robotic Sorting Fulfillment Center in Madison County, Miss., Aug. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Economy

Amazon to cut 30,000 jobs in largest layoff in company history

Eurofighter Typhoon Spain's Air Force fighter jets fly above the military parade marking 'Día de la Hispanidad', or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP)
Politics

UK sells 20 Eurofighter jets to Türkiye in £8bn defense agreement

Smoke billows after drone strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted the northern port in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

RSF tightens El Fasher siege as Sudan risks fragmentation: Reuters

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS