PressTV... WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange’s internet connection has been “intentionally” cut off, the anti-secrecy website says, reassuring his followers that “appropriate” contingency plans are in place.
“Julian Assange's internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party,” WikiLeaks said in a tweet on Monday. “We have activated the appropriate contingency plans.”
For Assange, who has been taking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, internet is one of the few available ways of remaining in touch with the world.
The development came as his whistleblowing website was busy pumping out damning documents surrounding US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House.
The website has published thousands of hacked emails belonging to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and some of Clinton’s aides.
The 9th batch, which included damning emails from Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta, was released on Sunday, shedding more light on the mechanics of her campaign, as well as her time as the secretary of state.
Is Assange dead?
Also on Sunday, a series of cryptic tweets by WikiLeaks set the internet on fire, raising speculations about Assange’s well-being.
The three tweets contained confusing messages about US Secretary of State John Kerry, UK Foreign Office and Ecuador, with a 64-character code attached to each one, similar to what is commonly referred to as a “dead man’s switch.”
Although there are real-life switches designed to send a specific signal upon a person’s untimely death, the codes posted by WikiLeaks turned out to be simple “pre-commitment” keys that would prevent unreleased information from being modified in future.
Since 2013, WikiLeaks has on several occasions posted so-called “insurance” files, which contain unreleased documents and will only be decoded when something happens to Assange.
The codes represent a cryptographic scheme that are unique to the documents and will no longer match them in case of any alteration.
Leaked documents by the website in early October, alleged that Clinton wanted to “drone” Assange during her tenure as the US secretary of state.