Russian Foreign Ministry Calls on International Financier Browder to Assist Assange

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2020) Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Thursday called on Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, to help "save" the imprisoned founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

Zakharova recalled the situation around Assange's imprisonment and possible extradition to the United States during a briefing.

"I think maybe Browder should also participate [in the Assange's case]? In my opinion, it is time, he has big experience. All his power, strength and actions could be used to save Assange. Or, if this does not work out, then [he could] demand from the relevant countries, primarily the United Kingdom and the US, sanctions against themselves," the spokeswoman said.

Assange's week-long extradition trial started on Monday in London's Woolwich Crown Court. According to Zakharova, the case against the Wikileaks founder is "shameful."

"Such punitive measures against a journalist in the 21st century are absolutely unacceptable and are totally shameful for the Western countries involved in this, which consider themselves democratic and free," Zakharova said.

Assange resided in the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2012-2019 after claiming asylum. In April, the embassy allowed UK police to enter and arrest the WikiLeaks founder, who was eventually sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching bail conditions in 2012, concerning rape accusations in Sweden that have since been dropped. In the US, Assange faces 18 Federal charges, many in relation to the US Espionage Act, and could be sentenced to a maximum of 175 years of incarceration if convicted.

Browder, an international financier, was the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2013, Russia sentenced Browder in absentia to nine years in prison for tax evasion. The court also ruled that Sergei Magnitsky, a tax and legal consultant for Hermitage Capital Management, who died in custody in Moscow in 2009, developed and implemented a tax evasion scheme while working for the businessman. Russia listed Bowder on the Interpol wanted list. The financier is currently living in London.