Julian Assange and WikiLeaks

Is Julian Assagne a genuine whistleblower?

  • Whistleblower

    Votes: 21 67.7%
  • CIA Crony / Agent

    Votes: 10 32.3%

  • Total voters
    31

W.G.Ewald

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Julian Assange: where is Australia in all this? – Telegraph Blogs
It's news to most of us that Mr Assange's will is to go to Sweden and face Swedish justice, but who's complaining? Perhaps the elements of a deal emerge:

"¢ Assange is given 'safe passage' from the Embassy to a plane taking him to Sweden to face Swedish justice

"¢ He also is given a guarantee by the UK and Sweden that en route to Sweden he will not be extradited to the USA or anywhere else

Ecuador gets its heroic and principled 'demands' met. UK and Sweden fulfil their legal obligations. Assange then has to start his prolonged legal battle in Sweden (or anywhere else he goes) to avoid extradition to the USA, as and when the USA requests it. Sorted.

Meanwhile what is Australia doing to help Assange, an Australian citizen?
 

W.G.Ewald

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Questions about Assange the media won’t ask - Edward Wasserman - MiamiHerald.com

"¢ First, what precisely is he alleged to have done in Sweden — and how are such accusations normally handled? Are the targets of similar allegations always treated like top-drawer international fugitives, or is Assange unusually privileged? And why can't he be questioned in London?

"¢ Second, what is the Washington connection? Have U.S. officials urged the Swedes to get him to Stockholm? Does the United States have plans to seek his extradition? Has any reporter asked?

(And while we're asking, what pressure did the administration bring to bear on the money handlers who cut off WikiLeaks' flow of funds?)

"¢ Third, has Assange been indicted? It's reported that a sealed indictment exists, and since he is resisting extradition because he already assumes that to be true, it's hard to see why it should remain under seal.

"¢ Finally, and most important, isn't it time for a dispassionate assessment of WikiLeaks' impact? It has been two years since the massive leaks of military and diplomatic data. The moment is ripe for an accounting. Did the leaks do harm or do good? Did Wikileaks demoralize dedicated officials and expose trusting intelligence assets to risk and reprisal? Or did it blow whistles that needed blowing, embolden dissidents worldwide, fuel the Arab Spring, encourage lackluster news media to defy official controls, help chase despots from power?
 

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The Hindu : Opinion / Letters : Assange case

According to the judgment of the International Court of Justice in Colombia v. Peru 1950, Ecuador can legally grant asylum to Julian Assange, who is clearly not a common criminal, in its embassy in London ("The way forward in the Assange case," Aug. 27). But what Ecuador cannot do is ensure his safe passage out of London. England, in exercise of its sovereignty, can arrest Mr. Assange if he steps out of the embassy.

Ecuador cannot grant permanent asylum to Mr. Assange in its embassy. The situation has reached a deadlock. Any move by either of the two parties will lead to a violation of international law.
 

W.G.Ewald

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Assange bail guarantors ordered to pay up | News24

Nine people who put up bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, including two members of the British aristocracy and a Nobel Prize winner, were ordered to pay £93 000 on Monday after Assange took refuge in Ecuador's embassy.

The guarantors - who include Nobel prize-winning biologist John Sulston - are liable for part of the £140 000 pound bail fee they pledged, Westminster Magistrate's Court ruled.

They were given until 6 November to pay up.

Assange, whose whistleblowing website angered the United States by releasing thousands of US diplomatic cables, was arrested in December 2010 on an extradition warrant from Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women.

He denies wrongdoing and says he fears that if he is extradited to Sweden he could be transferred to the United States where he could face criminal charges punishable by death.

The 41-year-old Australian broke the conditions of his bail when he entered the Ecuadorean embassy in June shortly after running out of legal options to avoid being sent to Sweden. He was later granted diplomatic asylum by Ecuador.

"Having seen and heard from the sureties, I cannot avoid taking some account of their integrity," Judge Howard Riddle said of the nine guarantors.

"I accept that they trusted Mr Assange to surrender himself as required. I accept that they followed the proceedings and made necessary arrangements to remain in contact with him," he said.

"However, they failed in their basic duty, to ensure his surrender. They must have understood the risk and the concerns of the courts.
 

Zebra

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Assange movie premiere date announced

September 24, 2012

The Australian premiere of Underground: The Julian Assange Story has been announced.

The 90-minute telemovie, starring Rachel Griffiths and Anthony LaPaglia, will be shown on Sunday, October 7 at 8.30pm on Network Ten.

Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Robert Connolly (Balibo) the movie focuses on the teenage years of the Wikileakes founder - who is considered by many to be one of the most controversial figures of modern times.

Immediately before Underground, reporter and presenter Hamish Macdonald will front a special called Julian Assange:a TEN News Special, Network Ten said in a statement yesterday.

Assange, who was born in Townsville, Qld, in 1971, moved to Lismore, NSW, with his family when he was eight. But after his parents divorced Assange spent his teenage years moving to 50 different towns across Australia attending more than 30 different schools, he has stated in previous interviews.

He's been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June. He's asking Ecuador for political asylum as he fights extradition to Sweden where Assange is wanted for questioning about alleged sexual misconduct.

Assange movie premiere date announced
 

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First Trailer | Underground: The Julian Assange Story


Published on Sep 8, 2012 by Anon Harz
 
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trackwhack

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So the british threatened to storm the embassy and all that ... :lol: :laugh: :rofl: bunch of shameless stooges
 

W.G.Ewald

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So the british threatened to storm the embassy and all that ... bunch of shameless stooges
The stooges appear to be those people who put up the coward's bail and now have lost their money, hmmmm?
 

trackwhack

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The stooges appear to be those people who put up the coward's bail and now have lost their money, hmmmm?
If you are blinded by rabid nationalism it will appear that way. Since you already made the judgement (coward), you still expect others to believe that he will receive a fair trial? And thats irrespective of whether he is really what he claims to be or if he is a former US stooge gone rogue.
 

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Anonymous withdraws support for WikiLeaks - FT.com

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lost another high-profile supporter as Anonymous, the hacking collective, said the whistleblowing site had been "ruined by egos".

Anonymous, a loose group of internet "hacktivists", has been one of WikiLeaks' closest allies during the past two years, launching cyber attacks against the site's opponents and, some claim, becoming a source of its material.
 

Known_Unknown

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Lost among all the noise, accusations and lies are the ideals that Wikileaks, Julian Assange and the hundreds of volunteer staff of that organization from all over the world stood and fought for all these years.

 
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W.G.Ewald

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Lost among all the noise, accusations and lies are the ideals that Wikileaks, Julian Assange and the hundreds of volunteer staff of that organization from all over the world stood and fought for all these years.

How can Julian Assange stand and fight from the embassy of Ecuador, and not in a courtroom? His supporters posted bail for him and are going to lose their money.
Where is the lie related to that fact?
 
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Known_Unknown

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How can Julian Assange stand and fight from the embassy of Ecuador, and not in a courtroom? His supporters posted bail for him and are going to lose their money.
Where is the lie related to that fact?
Assange is not charged with anything. This entire witchunt and expense of millions of dollars by the prosecuting agencies of Sweden and Britain, British police forces and courts is all merely because the Swedish prosecutor would like to question Assange-but only in Sweden. The questioning could be conducted anywhere-in Britain, Sweden, or via video link. But the prosecutor refuses to do so.

Assange has said that he will travel to Sweden if the Swedish government guarantees that they will not extradite him to the US to face trumped up charges of espionage. Sweden refuses to provide that guarantee.

Even a blind man can see that something is wrong here. Assange has been willing to compromise-but why should he be suicidal and let himself be trapped, kidnapped or be the victim of rendition to the US?
 

W.G.Ewald

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Assange is not charged with anything. This entire witchunt and expense of millions of dollars by the prosecuting agencies of Sweden and Britain, British police forces and courts is all merely because the Swedish prosecutor would like to question Assange-but only in Sweden. The questioning could be conducted anywhere-in Britain, Sweden, or via video link. But the prosecutor refuses to do so.

Assange has said that he will travel to Sweden if the Swedish government guarantees that they will not extradite him to the US to face trumped up charges of espionage. Sweden refuses to provide that guarantee.

Even a blind man can see that something is wrong here. Assange has been willing to compromise-but why should he be suicidal and let himself be trapped, kidnapped or be the victim of rendition to the US?
Pussy Riot has more credibility than Assange.
 

W.G.Ewald

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If you are blinded by rabid nationalism it will appear that way. Since you already made the judgement (coward), you still expect others to believe that he will receive a fair trial? And thats irrespective of whether he is really what he claims to be or if he is a former US stooge gone rogue.
I really don't equate nationalism with disdain for Assange. Like so many "martyrs", he doesn't want to face consequences for what he claims are his beliefs.

I'll quote myself.
Anything "exposed" by Wikileaks to warrant the USG to ask for death penalty? I don't see it. AFAIK, Bradley Manning does not face the death penalty.
Wikileaks is yesterday's news and getting staler by the day.
 

W.G.Ewald

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@trackwhack

Assange: Reelected Obama a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' — RT
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sees no reason to celebrate the reelection of US President Barack Obama. The US aggressively pursued and "persecuted" the whistleblower site under a Democratic administration, he explained.

"Obama seems to be a nice man, and that is precisely the problem," the 41-year-old told AFP, speaking from his room in London's Ecuadorian embassy.

"It's better to have a sheep in wolf's clothing than a wolf in sheep's clothing," he said. "All of the activities against WikiLeaks by the United States have occurred under an Obama administration."

Assange was equally critical of the Republican, saying it "has not been an effective restraining force on government excesses over the last four years."

"There is no reason to believe that will change – in fact, the Republicans will push the administration into ever greater excesses," he added.

The WikiLeaks founder sounded hoarse, but refused to comment on his health. Last month, Ecuador said it had requested a meeting with British officials to discuss claims that Assange was losing weight and suffering vision problems.

Assange claimed asylum in the embassy in June to escape extradition to Sweden for questioning over sex crimes allegations. He denies the charges, and believes that if extradited he would then be sent to the US, which regards him as an enemy of the state, where he would face prosecution and possibly the death penalty.

WikiLeaks angered Washington in 2010 by publishing hundreds of thousands of classified US documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world. Washington retaliated by forcing companies to cut off WikiLeaks' sources of funding.
 
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W.G.Ewald

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Julian Assange Calls DreamWorks' WikiLeaks Movie A "Massive Propaganda Attack" - Deadline.com

Addressing an Oxford Union debate via videolink on Wednesday night, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called DreamWorks' upcoming Bill Condon-directed The Fifth Estate a "massive propaganda attack on WikiLeaks and the character of my staff." Throughout the address, Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since it offered him asylum in August, had what was purported to be a copy of the film's script — though The Guardian says he never showed it to the camera. He told students the film was "fanning the flames" of war since, he claims, it starts inside a military complex in Iran with the suggestion a nuclear bomb is being built. He then asked, "How does this have anything to do with us? It is a lie upon lie." The Fifth Estate started shooting this week with Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange and Daniel Bruhl as his confidant Daniel Domscheit-Berg and traces the early days of WikiLeaks through to the release of a series of controversial and history-changing information disclosures. The script is written by Josh Singer and based on Domscheit-Berg's book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange At The World's Most Dangerous Website, and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy by Guardian writers David Leigh and Luke Harding.
 

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WikiLeaks has more US classified documents: Assange

MELBOURNE: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has claimed that his website holds more US classified documents which are yet to be published online.

The website will, however, not release this material during the court martial of its source, US Army Private Bradley Manning, according to a report by 'The Age' today.

Assange, currently holed up in Ecuadorian embassy in London, described Manning as "America's foremost political prisoner...an activist who faces retribution for revealing the truth".

"Bradley Manning's plea was a very positive development for him. For the first time he was able to speak about his motivation to reveal truths and stimulate public debate about war", he said.

Assange has confirmed to the Fairfax publication that WikiLeaks had received classified material from Manning that related to a February 2010 incident in which the US military had turned a blind eye to Baghdad police arrests and persecution of political opponents of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Assange said that WikiLeaks had decided not to publish the material at the time for "source-protection reasons" given that the person providing the material appeared to have been connected with the US military's handling of the incident.

"We still can't publish it. It would be a questionable action to do so now while Bradley Manning has a potential life sentence hanging over his head," he said.

He said he "wouldn't go beyond what Manning has said" and "can't answer" whether the two published CIA documents were the documents referred to by Manning or whether WikiLeaks holds other intelligence agency material not yet published.

"I can't say anything that might suggest that someone had been responsible for, or was party to, any further disclosure," the 41-year-old Australian national said.

Assange confirmed that WikiLeaks received videos and other documents relating to a May 2009 US air strike near Granai village in Afghanistan that killed between 90 to 150 Afghan civilians, including many children.

The Granai air strike material "documented a massacre, a war crime", he said and disputed previous media reports claiming WikiLeaks had been unable to open the encrypted video files.

"WikiLeaks obtained this material and scheduled it for release, but the opportunity to reveal these important records was lost when Daniel Domscheit Berg left WikiLeaks, taking this and other material with him, which he has said he later destroyed.

"WikiLeaks no longer has a copy," Assange said. The hacker-turned activist is trying to avoid extradition from Britain to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault in August 2010 and has been inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 19, 2012 where he has been granted diplomatic asylum.

WikiLeaks has more US classified documents: Assange - The Times of India
 

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