Assange's Arrest Captured Exclusively by Russian-Backed TV Crew
Assange's Arrest Captured Exclusively by Russian-Backed TV Crew
(Bloomberg) -- The dramatic footage of a handcuffed Julian Assange being wrenched by police from Ecuador’s embassy in central London Thursday was caught by just one news organization: a Russian-backed film crew.
The WikiLeaks founder’s struggle as officers bundled him into a police van -- after a seven-year standoff with British authorities -- was captured by Ruptly, a Berlin-based agency of the Kremlin-funded outlet RT. The scene, which happened at southern edge of Hyde Park, wasn’t caught by any of Britain’s top channels, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or Sky News.
Newsrooms around the world are now paying Ruptly royalties to broadcast the footage.
“Hundreds of international news outlets have received the video from Ruptly, and the requests are still coming,” said Matt Tabaccos, the news organization’s chief commercial officer. “Like most agencies or media we understand how crucial it is to get a world exclusive like this and make it available for clientele and their audiences.”
Ruptly had been staking out the embassy since last week, running 24-hour-a-day shifts. Reporters have been on high alert since April 4, when WikiLeaks tweeted that the 47-year-old Assange was due to be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy.
Russia has been linked to Assange’s WikiLeaks in the high-profile probe by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller concerning meddling in the 2016 presidential race. WikiLeaks published thousands of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which U.S. prosecutors have said were stolen during a Russian intelligence operation.
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Seal in London at tseal@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner
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