leaks founder julian assange came to an abrupt end today british police officers hauled him out of the ecuadorian embassy and extradition to the united states on conspiracy charges seems almost certain and with that the stakes just got higher for press and internet freedom and one about the us president now when he ran for the white house donald trump said he loved wiki leaks today he said i know nothing about wiki leaks i'm berlin this is the day. no one is above that all julian assange is no hero is asylum is unsustainable i'm no longer valuable i'm pleased that president gloria has taken this decision and i

extended the you case thanks to him for resolving this situation and he's hidden from the truthful he is and he is. like. you said goodbye. to his belief in freedom of speech mr song will now house the opportunity to contest the cianci case to him in open court he wants to thank all of his supporters today ongoing support. and he said i told you so. also coming up tonight the biggest act of democracy at the ballot box in human history is now underway nine hundred million people are eligible to vote in the i'm a first time for the first time and this is a good experience my life and i'm very excited to get there is that yeah i'm voting since. that. day because it is my right you know. i am happy to be

a part of this democracy and they want that it should continue year after year. viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day asking what will tomorrow bring for julian a songe and the rest of us today in london the wiki leaks founder was hauled out of the ecuadorian embassy the small piece of real estate that had been his home for seven years and songes future is unclear tonight but we know he is wanted in the u.s. on conspiracy charges and could be extradited but the fate of a songs could have a chilling impact on journalism freedom and on internet freedom as we know them today just try to answer these questions with a simple yes or no is wiki leaks a media outlet is julian a songe a publisher and what about the trump administration's view when secretary of state was head of the cia he said wiki leaks was

a nonstate hostile intelligence service aided by russia president trump has often praised wiki leaks today he told reporters he doesn't know really what we. are coverage begins tonight in london. a weary looking a songe finally leaves the embassy where he's been holed up for the past seven years this video shot by ruptly part of the broadcaster russia today. is the standoff began in twenty ten when he was accused of rape and molestation by two women after a conference in sweden that same year his wiki leaks website a whistle blowing platform became a household name after it circulated footage of an american air strike in baghdad the attack killed two journalists the video appeared to show troops firing an unarmed man and washington was investigating the leaks when sweden issued an arrest

warrant for the alleged sex crimes a songe surrendered to police in london and was granted bail. the following year a british court ruled he should be extradited to sweden but a songe feared this would be used as a pretext to extradite him to the us. i have not been charged with any crime in any country. despite the european arrest for its third restrictive that it prevents u.k. courts from considering the facts of a case in two thousand and twelve he applied for and was granted political asylum at the ecuadorian embassy in london on human rights grounds. i think president correia for the carriage is showing and considering ending granting me political asylum fast forward three years later when swedish prosecutors were forced to drop the molestation charge after running out of time to question him in two thousand

and sixteen a united nations panel ruled that assad was being arbitrarily detained but britain refused to budge on its stance the next year swedish authorities also dropped their rape investigation but vowed to reopen it if they got access to his sons' meanwhile his relationship with ecuadorian officials in london was deteriorating in twenty eighteen at the accused the songe of violating the terms of their agreement and cut his internet access assad's retaliated by threatening legal action against the embassy saying his fundamental rights and freedom were being violated on thursday afternoon british authorities were able to enter the building and arrest him assad is now facing extradition to the u.s. he calls the situation a witch hunt. but this is truly extraordinary development what continues to be an extraordinary story but the most important chapter will be written if and when julian assange is extradited to the united states what happens to

a staunch there will impact journalism freedom not only in the u.s. my first guest. knight is author of wiki leaks news in the networked era one of the first books to lay out the changing nexus of geopolitics the internet and the media he's also the founding director of the london school of economics international journalism think tank polis i'm happy to welcome to the day this evening charlie beckett's mr beckett joins me tonight from austin texas it's good to have you on the show mr beck and i want to pull up a tweet that you have seen on earlier today you said that the most serious issue here is songe being extradited to the u.s. and facing prosecution they are why. well because i think it's not so much the fate of that particular individual i think it's as you mention that this may have great residence for journalists of freedom will generate because

what's own trial if you like was that moment in two thousand and ten when there were those extraordinary revelations about. american military policy in afghanistan in iraq and everyone thought not everyone but the new york times the step the guardian another very respectable. as a she was this was in the public interest not it was in a sense a classic act of journalism. now is that it becomes harder in the future and that sets a terrible precedent osa thing that it sends out a very very bad signal we did in a world where there are all serra tarion leaders from china to that pizza rusher and beyond who are attacking the news media trying to use. to climb to the expression so it's just a terrible message to cross where you speak of you know authoritarianism the

trumpet ministration and it's just this department with the attorney general where your bar i mean they are not some people would say first in line when it comes to protecting the first amendment of the u.s. constitution do you see the the rights of a free press being threatened if and when a songe goes on trial in the u.s. . i think it's one aspect of it i mean in the american context where i am at the moment and there is this whole debate it's about what donald trump is delayed by attacking the media in general and i think this i don't see this is donald trump trying to attract some angelica leaks directly because at one point it was terribly convenient and this is the problem this is why it is so cool that we look at all excess and wind in america the first amendment is respected and because that's the

defense it's not whether the president should be allowed to succeed you know to your journalism it's that journalism and the right it's really important to write the journalists sometimes to break the rules even separate the law or if it's in the wider public interest in a kind of paradox which you know the courts are there to try and tussle out president trump was asked today about the arrest of julian a songe i'd like for you to take a listen to what he said and also to the statements that he gave about wiki leaks when he was running for the white house take a listen it's been amazing watch coming out on wiki leaks and by the way wiki leaks just came out with a lot of really unbelievable things so we kill each document showing. how the media conspires and collaborates i almost delayed this speech by about two hours it's so interesting i know nothing about where he leaks it's not my thing. i mean

mr berger but when you hear that how do you interpret that all of a sudden the u.s. president knows nothing about wiki leaks. well i think all politicians. love journalistic freedom till it's turned on on them. so i don't think it's entirely surprising and i think donald trump is quite clear he does have a strategy of sometimes cozying up to media and it's to his advantage and sold out of city continually with fox news overseas well even to attack on the important thing with this songe case at the moment you may well not like him he may well disagree with some of those revelations in the political impact only at the democrats were very or liberals in america were very happy when the sun was

exposing regimes of stakes in the iraq war they didn't like it when he was exposing what hillary clinton was doing and i think and that's obvious songes problem as well now that he in the last few years become a kind of political act you know he's cozied up city slightly shadowy people and that has come back. to haunt would you agree with me that reporting on this story particularly if the extradition takes place that this is going to be a test for journalists. indeed i think there's a lot of shopping through is going on here in paris n.v. we saw that when we keep leaks that made the original revelations there was a lot of white jealousy a lot of competitiveness jealousy around germicidal so we could takes you know when it worked well it was a challenge to mainstream journalists said look why you guys not revealing these

things why you guys not challenging paragraphs. i think the combination of silence is very unattractive egocentric martyr complex is distasteful and it's easy to attract that but i think this is a moment when journalists have to think about what is really at stake and i'm not saying they should blindly defend songe but i think they should think seriously about so what's at risk. professor charlie beckett joining us tonight from austin texas talking about the stakes involved in the next chapter of the julian a songe saga mr becker we appreciate your insights tonight thank you. which night the army in sudan is in control of the country earlier today they ousted and arrested presidential omar al bashir dramatic developments which bring

to an end thirty years of all the cry to rule in a televised statement the country's defense minister announced a two year long transitional government run by the army he also declared a three month long state of emergency and said that bashir is being held at a secure place the capital khartoum has seen months of public anti-government protest it remains unclear what protesters will do now that the military has imposed a curfew. to talk about that and more i'm joined here at the big table by a native a bird she's an expert on east africa at the german institute for international and security affairs it's good to have you back on the show omar al bashir is gone but this is not the real regime change that protesters were hoping for is it you know it's not that protest has been clearly hoping for a civilian government not a military government but the backing of the military and what they see right now is basically the same same old people the old structure and being in place

minus bashir so nothing really substantially has changed and i think this is what we will see for the next couple of days that they will not just think that they will continue whether it's just strict curfew that's now in effect i'm wondering are we likely to see more protests if we have you to the authorities right now clamping down the way they are i think they will test the authorities some i think they will continue the the protests for sure and then see if really either the army and the government forces. will enforce the fourth year or if they will be pushed towards opening up this transitional government for the next two years and what about the way you. the world sees this the european union have given him money the united states has done business with them in terms of fighting terror. what are they thinking tonight i'm going to show that nobody is really crying tears for

bashir. and i think what they saw and what they still see in sudan is of course you know a country that is placed in the middle of africa between the so hell and also the red sea is so very strategically located and of course it's a very important country. to keep you know to keep on doing business with sudan will continue and of course those who they call for it is on with on counterterrorism and it will basically more the intelligence services rather than him. his departure will not impact that you think no actually i think it makes things more easy because you know he had the arrest warrant of the i.c.c. on his it and dealing with him of course is you know was was critical and impossible for the west in countries because they couldn't is he an example though of leaders you know there were lots of reports recently about abuses of human rights in sudan and yet the european union the u.s.

government you know they have worked with him to see an example of the west's critics would say hypocrisy we preach one thing but we do business with leaders who do something very different well i think it's much more well the next i would say because of course there is the arrest warrant and of course you know there is there's a lot of critique and a lot of well known dealings with them for example germany had to know them develop an operation so it's not like that there was a lot of money flowing into these properties from from germany from germany are from western countries but of course one would have wished that upholding the rule of law and human rights this for is more strictly you would have would have set the tone early on and of course that's also some. thing that i think is necessary now would be if the transitional government with the military to to keep to give pushing on you know human rights and the rule of law rather than having stability

as what is going to happen to president bashir now. well a couple of scenarios he could just stay there if the military stays in power he could to stay there he could go to a friendly country. as well the gulf states there are a couple of countries of players who are not signatories to the rome statute might you know offer him refuge. but i think it's early too early because we still don't know how things are transforming if there's a clampdown on the demonstrations that could escalate massively. and then this would eventually also determine his fate so i don't see him and me up in prison and you don't you don't send him you don't see him getting up you know on trial in the hague. not now it really depends on who will be in the government in sudan and you know if it's the military they don't seem to find it is important to him to

push him and do you see after all that has happened do you really see all of this leading up to real change in sudan is there a reason to think that things will get better yes i think because the masses the huge huge number of young people of women of everybody who is on the street and who will not stop demanding for real change and also i think in terms of the capacity that some of these now you know civil society is strong they do have good people who could take over as i am still hopeful and that's a vaporous always we appreciate your insights thank you thank you very much. and india voting is underway in the biggest parliamentary election the world has ever seen nearly nine hundred million indians are eligible to cast their ballots voting will take place in seven phases across different regions from now until the nineteenth of may a mammoth one million polling stations are being set up to reach even the most

remote areas of the election is said to be closely contested the party of incumbent prime minister narendra modi versus the opposition party which until landslide win five years ago have governed india since independence. for many in india the elections are a referendum on this man prime minister narendra modi. modi came to power in two thousand and fourteen after a landslide victory but this time around things might not be as clear cut. although polls suggest the fiercely nationalist modi will hold on to the premiership the main opposition party led by rahul gandhi is in the ascendancy. after a disastrous general election result five years ago gandhi's congress party was jubilant recently after winning back three key states from modi's b j p in regional

elections. and they have promised to prioritise the single biggest issue for voters the lack of jobs there schmidt in this country in every state young people are searching for jobs wherever you go and ask a young person what they're doing they reply i'm not doing anything that they'll get there quickly got there. it's a giant challenge while the indian economy has gathered strength under modi it has struggled to generate enough jobs especially for the country's young people. more than home off of indians aged twenty five around and some twelve million enter the workforce each year. the recent spike in tensions between india and pakistan in kashmir however has put another issue on the agenda national security and that may well play into the hands of no end raimondi and his hindu nationalists. the prime minister has started himself as the watchman protecting his

country by being strong on defense tough on tara in the army no longer to be bliss in the big up down on the seas on your india these. dark rays return to the damage done by. rebuilding theirs. if the pool of nationalism proves strong enough in the senate action the supporters may well be celebrating come the twenty third of may. and for some analysis on this election i'm joined by. who has worked with both the indian government and at the united nations he's currently an analyst specializing in public private cooperation he joins us tonight from london of course welcome to the day i have judged your age correctly you are part of the millennial is much like a significant number of india's population you're smiling i think i did a good job there eighty five million dollars first time voters are facing record

unemployment in india how can this not hurt modi and his party at the ballot box. yeah i think you hit the nail right on the head i mean india is a very very young country and nine hundred million people who are eligible to vote this year almost the combined population of america and europe about eighty five million people often folks the sixteen million of who are actually about eighteen to nineteen years old. but i think before we go into the unemployment like we need to ask who the indian voter young indian voter is and what they care about. the young indian voter is someone who is competent and progressive and what they care about most is is jobs and economic development you know unemployment has reached the highest in the past forty five years and when educating young people off or to compromise promising career so what what does it mean been for modi and his party

does election i mean what can they lay out on the table and say this is why you should vote for despite record unemployment. well that's why i see everything getting quite. everything going again because on the economic front the current government sort of five year performance on this issue is inconsistent and fast and incoherent that way you know the g.s.t. which is that which was meant to turn into a federal system in pockets should a new era of business uncertainty and the monetize ation kind of policies that he made a crack on that money and disrupted a home that. it contributed to a slow growth. and sort of propaganda on this issue really has to feed and then hailing india as a right to get out a lot of people young people within the country still believe. riding economy.

the unemployment statistics speak for themselves and i think the government just. declaring employment statistics as well. what about india's place in the world but the backdrop of this election i mean that pakistan and china and they could become huge headaches for india how has the how has its place in the world changed in just the last five years. i think sort of. to keep the balance. most definitely put india on the sort of just political stamina of meeting with world leaders and brokering deals across the was putting me on the map and it has changed our relations with pakistan and with china but i do think. india's place in the world have also become the main rhetorical of this election. and this is a real track to this election you know sadly social economic realities of the

nation have taken a complete back under the eclipse of national security and the impact of polarizing rhetorical agrarian discraft they have been completely shunned for a national security discourse. which which might even. and may even be entirely concocted. out of time but we appreciate you joining us tonight and giving us your insights valuable insights as this election gets underway in london thank you. thank you well the day is nearly done the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at news you can follow me abroad go off t.v. and don't forget to use our hash tag day and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another to see given to the.

country go to the international talk show for journalists discuss the topic of the week coming up on talk radio there are some one thousand battle hardened islamic state fighters and their families from germany or now heading home after i assess collapse what should germany do with them and how dangerous are they all that and more coming up. quadriga sixty minutes.

story so that people will hold on for g.w. on facebook and twitter to cut a date and in touch. with the real talent resides. i come from the north of people in fact not in the field in the future but not just democracy that's one reason why i'm passionate about people and aspirations and they can sense. the finishing the book is trying to. in berlin after the floor of the one hundred member thinking at the time the sublime in bold can forward anything can happen if people come together and unite for the kids. but i do the news often confronted difficult situations for conflict between does something still i see to sponsor my child to confront good speeches on policies and development put the spotlight on issues that matter most congo to

security oppression marginalisation. a notch has been achieved so much more needs to john and i think people have to be a concrete solutions my name is on the top and i would have to tell you. precarious global economy uncertain international monetary fund and the world bank kick off their annual spring meetings with warnings to the world. also coming up after months of disagreement. to trade talks. setting the stage for the real challenge convincing washington to agree to a deal. and it is said to be one of the the.