Ecuadorian Justice Recuses Judge From Case Of Assange's Associate Ola Bini

QUITO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2021) An Ecuadorean court has granted the defense's motion to recuse the judge handling the case of Ola Bini, a Swedish software developer and Julian Assange's close friend, over irregularities in the legal process.

"On July 15, the hearing of the recusal of Judge Yadira Prouno, responsible for the criminal process against Ola Bini, was held. ... Judge Ximena Rodriguez decided to accept the request for recusal," Bini's lawyer Carlos Soria tweeted Thursday.

Bini was detained in Ecuador in 2019, in the wake of the WikiLeaks founder's arrest. The IT specialist is suspected of having ties to the whistleblowing website. Ecuador's Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said the 39-year-old visited Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London a dozen times.

Bini was initially accused of hacking government accounts and telephones but the charges were later changed to unauthorized access to a computer system. His defense team and human rights charities said they had documented repeated violations of due process, which meant that the case against Bini was unfair.