Julian Assange's lawyer settles over 'breach of her human rights'

Julian Assange’s Australian lawyer who counts Amal Clooney and Amber Heard as friends says she has reached settlement with government ‘over breach of her human rights after it admitted she was likely put under covert surveillance’

  • Jennifer Robinson has reached settlement with Government over surveillance 
  • She said it accepted covert surveillance of her ‘likely breached her human rights’
  • She was one of the three lead claimants in a complaint against the Government 
  • She said it raises ‘grave concerns’ over interference with ‘journalistic material

One of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s lawyers has reached a settlement with the Government after it accepted it was likely she was the subject of ‘covert surveillance which breached her human rights’, she said.

Jennifer Robinson welcomed a statement by the European Court of Human Rights which she said meant the UK Government has ‘accepted her rights were breached by surveillance’.

She was one of the three lead claimants in a complaint against the UK Government which went to the court.

Jennifer Robinson has reached a settlement with the Government after it accepted it was likely she was the subject of covert surveillance which breached her human rights, she said

Ms Robinson said the UK Government has reached a ‘friendly settlement’, admitting there was reasonable cause to believe she was the subject of surveillance.

She said: ‘The UK Government has now admitted that its surveillance and information-sharing arrangements with the US violated my rights. That includes in relation to the protection of confidential journalistic material.

‘This follows a pattern of unlawful spying on Julian Assange and his legal team, and it raises grave concerns about government interference with journalistic material and privilege.

‘It also raises serious questions about what information the UK and US governments have been sharing about Mr Assange’s case against extradition to the US.’

The development came as Mr Assange awaits a decision by Home Secretary Priti Patel on whether he should be extradited to the United States. 

Ms Robinson is one of the lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (pictured)

Ms Robinson, who works from the respected Doughty Chambers in London, has represented Assange for some 12 years.

She is the go-to barrister for the rich and famous, and counts the Hollywood elite among her inner circle, travelling to George and Amal Clooney’s wedding on a speedboat with actor Bill Murray.

In 2019, she was named international pro bono barrister of the year and prior to lockdown, was pictured at events with Prince Charles and Cherie Blair.

She has also appeared on BBC Question Time and supported Amber Heard during the Johnny Depp’s libel case against The Sun newspaper in 2020.

Ms Robinson pictured with Stella Moris (right), Julian Assange’s partner in London in 2020

Earlier this month, she said that despite it being years since she was involved in the celebrity case, she is again being hit by threats and targeted by trolls with hundreds of Johnny Depp fans flooding her social media with cruel comments. 

In a separate trial between the celebrity couple last week, a US jury found Heard was guilty of defaming Depp when she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse in an article published in the Washington Post in 2018.

Depp was awarded a total of $U15million ($A20.9million) in damages, out of a potential $US50million ($A69million), after he won on all three counts of his defamation trial.

Team Heard: The top lawyer was an observer in Heard’s case, which saw Depp hit with 14 allegations of domestic violence in London 2020

Ms Robinson at the International Court of Justice in September 2018, at the Chagos Islands proceedings

Who is lawyer Jennifer Robinson? Kylie-loving Australian who worked with Amal Clooney and represented Amber Heard

Ms Robinson, who works from the respected Doughty Chambers in London alongside Amal Clooney, has represented Assange for some 12 years.

A self-confessed Kyle Minogue fan, who has ‘nothing in her fridge but Champagne’ is the go-to barrister for the rich and famous, and counts the Hollywood elite among her inner circle.

She has appeared on BBC Question Time and supported Amber Heard during the Johnny Depp’s libel case against The Sun newspaper in 2020.

Ms Robinson grew up in the small town of Berry, NSW, Australia, where her father is a celebrated racehorse trainer and her mother works as a teacher. 

She graduated with a double degree in law and Asian studies from the Australian National University, and is fluent in Indonesian.

She later became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, attending Balliol College and graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Law with Distinction and a Master of Philosophy in International Public Law.

She previously worked at London law firm Finers Stephens Innocent LLP and has gone on to become one of the UK’s most recognised human rights and media lawyers.

Ms Robinson advises clients in international law, appeared in the International Court of Justice and has given expert evidence at the UN and in Parliament.

She has a particular focus on ‘free speech and civil liberties, advising media organisations, journalists and whistle-blowers on all aspects of media law’. 

Heard was awarded $US2million ($A2.8million) after the jury found a statement made by one of Depp’s lawyers calling her accusations a ‘hoax’ to a British tabloid was defamatory. 

Immediately after the verdict was given, at a court in the US state of Virginia, things worsened for Ms Robinson.

In the comments of her latest Instagram post, a photo of London’s cityscape, users expressed their disgust at her continued support for Heard.

‘Jen, tell Amber Heard that me and all my female friends love Johnny Depp more than ever,’ one user commented.

‘Imagine supporting a liar! Get yourself enlightened,’ a second wrote.

‘Anyone who supports Amber Turd deserves to rot in prison,’ a third said.

In an interview with MailOnline in 2020, Ms Robinson detailed the misogynistic abuse and death threats she and her A-list client had received during the libel trial.

‘I found it to be a sad reflection on our society that although Amber was a witness and not on trial herself, we had to have security,’ she recalled.

‘Some days we had police protection. People were throwing things at our car, shouting abuse – we even passed a huge billboard saying ‘Ditch the witch’, with her face on it.’

Amber Heard isn’t the only famous face Ms Robinson has represented.

The Aussie lawyer met Julian Assange in 2010, who told her he was planning to publish top-secret diplomatic cables revealing embassies’ backroom deals.

‘I remember sitting with this Australian with a backpack, who said, “Jen, I’ve got a quarter of a million diplomatic cables and I’m about to publish them. The US will chase me to the ends of the earth and make my life hell”,’ she recalled.

‘Once he published, Julian was the most wanted man in the world. They were freezing his bank accounts and I was getting death threats – though the abuse I’ve had from working with Amber is worse.’

Ms Robinson grew up in the small town of Berry, NSW, Australia, where her father is a celebrated racehorse trainer and her mother works as a teacher.

She graduated with a double degree in law and Asian studies from the Australian National University, and is fluent in Indonesian. 

In 2014, the 39-year-old was carried to the Clooneys’ star-studded Venetian wedding in a boat with Bill Murray

She later became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, attending Balliol College and graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Law with Distinction and a Master of Philosophy in International Public Law.

She previously worked at London law firm Finers Stephens Innocent LLP and has gone on to become one of the UK’s most recognised human rights and media lawyers.

Ms Robinson advises clients in international law, appeared in the International Court of Justice and has given expert evidence at the UN and in Parliament.

She has a particular focus on ‘free speech and civil liberties, advising media organisations, journalists and whistle-blowers on all aspects of media law’.

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