An Ecuadorian judge denied bail for Swedish net-activist Ola Bini, who is suspected of having links to WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, at a hearing that took place in Quito on Wednesday.
Bini, 37, stands accused of hacking computer systems belonging to the government following Assange’s eviction from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He attended this hearing from jail, blocks away from the court, because his permit to assist was declined.
“It is not like Ola Bini has not collaborated, the only thing he has requested is what any citizen deserves: to be explain of what he allegedly did, what action, what system he attacked, then he can think of collaborating. It is everybody’s right. Mr. Ola Bini has not been explained of what he did and yet they are investigating his economy, his life, his work, everything,” said Bini’s lawyer, Jose Charry.
Bini is reportedly suspected of plotting to blackmail Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno due to his annulment of Assange’s asylum status and the latter’s subsequent arrest, with Ecuadorian Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo claiming that Bini travelled at least a dozen times to meet with Assange at the embassy in London.
The Sweden software developer was arrested on the same day that Assange was expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy.
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