Prominent whistleblowers and journalists defend Julian Assange at online vigil
Over the weekend, dozens of public figures, including prominent whistleblowers and journalists, took part in a 36-hour international online vigil in defence of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange. The event was the third "Unity4J" vigil organised by independent journalist and New Zealand Internet Party leader, Suzie Dawson, since Assange's communications were cut-off by Ecuadorian authorities at their London embassy last March.
[...] Daniel Ellsberg, whose release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 exposed the extent of US criminality in Vietnam, drew a parallel between his own activities and those of WikiLeaks. Referring to WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of US war logs in Iraq and Afghanistan, he stated: "I really waited almost 40 years, after the Pentagon Papers had come out, for someone to do what I had done."
Ellsberg pointed to similarities between the attacks that had been levelled against him, and the persecution of Assange. "I was charged with 12 felony counts, a possible 150 years in prison. Nixon had in mind for me what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have had in mind for Julian Assange," he said.
takyon: #Unity4J. See also: Why I Stand With Julian Assange at The American Conservative.
Related: FBI Whistleblower on Pierre Omidyar and His Campaign to Neuter Wikileaks
Julian Assange has His Internet Access Cut Off by Ecuador
Ecuador Spent $5 Million Protecting and Spying on Julian Assange
Related Stories
FBI Whistleblower on Pierre Omidyar and His Campaign to Neuter Wikileaks
FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds asserts Pierre Omidyar decided to create The Intercept to not only take ownership of the Snowden leaks but also to continue his blockade against WikiLeaks and create a "honey trap" for whistleblowers.
WikiLeaks, the transparency organization known for publishing leaked documents that threaten the powerful, finds itself under pressure like never before, as does its editor-in-chief, Julian Assange. Now, the fight to silence Wikileaks is not only being waged by powerful government figures but also by the media, including outlets and organizations that have styled themselves as working to protect whistleblowers.
As this three-part series seeks to show, these outlets and organizations are being stealthily guided by the hands of special interests, not the public interest they claim to serve. Part I focuses on the Freedom of the Press Foundation, The Intercept, and the oligarch who has strongly influenced both organizations in his long-standing fight to silence WikiLeaks.
Ecuador cuts off Julian Assange's internet access at London embassy
The government of Ecuador has confirmed that it has cut off internet access in its embassy in London to Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks, saying that he was putting the country's international relations at risk.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Ecuador said that the step had been taken because Assange had failed to abide by an agreement not to interfere in the South American country's relations with other states.
"The government of Ecuador warns that Assange's behaviour, through his messages on social networks, put at risk the country's good relations with the United Kingdom, the other states of the European Union, and other nations," the statement said.
[...] Ecuador temporarily cut Assange's internet connection in 2016, over fears that he was using it to interfere in the US presidential election, but it was later restored.
Also at the Miami Herald and teleSUR.
The Ecuadorean government spent around $5 million to protect and spy on Julian Assange and his visitors, according to The Guardian. The operation evolved over time as the embassy's guest became less welcome:
Over more than five years, Ecuador put at least $5m (£3.7m) into a secret intelligence budget that protected the WikiLeaks founder while he had visits from Nigel Farage, members of European nationalist groups and individuals linked to the Kremlin. [...] Documents show the intelligence programme, called "Operation Guest", which later became known as "Operation Hotel" – coupled with parallel covert actions – ran up an average cost of at least $66,000 a month for security, intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence to "protect" one of the world's most high-profile fugitives. [...] The security personnel recorded in minute detail Assange's daily activities, and his interactions with embassy staff, his legal team and other visitors. They also documented his changing moods.
[...] Worried that British authorities could use force to enter the embassy and seize Assange, Ecuadorian officials came up with plans to help him escape. They included smuggling Assange out in a diplomatic vehicle or appointing him as Ecuador's United Nations representative so he could have diplomatic immunity in order to attend UN meetings, according to documents seen by the Guardian dated August 2012. In addition to giving Assange asylum, Correa's government was apparently prepared to spend money on improving his image. A lawyer was asked to devise a "media strategy" to mark the "second anniversary of his diplomatic asylum", in a leaked 2014 email exchange seen by the Guardian.
The money being spent was unknown to some members of the government, including the Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK, who learned of the operation in 2015. Ecuador's financial controller's office also investigated payments related to the operation.
DNC serves WikiLeaks with lawsuit via Twitter
The Democratic National Committee on Friday officially served its lawsuit to WikiLeaks via Twitter, employing a rare method to serve its suit to the elusive group that has thus far been unresponsive.
As CBS News first reported last month, the DNC filed a motion with a federal court in Manhattan requesting permission to serve its complaint to WikiLeaks on Twitter, a platform the DNC argued the website uses regularly. The DNC filed a lawsuit in April against the Trump campaign, Russian government and WikiLeaks, alleging a massive conspiracy to tilt the 2016 election in Donald Trump's favor.
All of the DNC's attempts to serve the lawsuit via email failed, the DNC said in last month's motion to the judge, which was ultimately approved.
Inadvertent Court Filing Suggests that the U.S. DoJ is Preparing to Indict Julian Assange
Prosecutors Have Prepared Indictment of Julian Assange, a Filing Reveals
The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, marking a drastic escalation of the government's yearslong battle with him and his anti-secrecy group. It was not clear if prosecutors have filed charges against Mr. Assange. The indictment came to light late Thursday through an unrelated court filing in which prosecutors inadvertently mentioned charges against him. "The court filing was made in error," said Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia. "That was not the intended name for this filing."
[...] Seamus Hughes, a terrorism expert at George Washington University who closely tracks court cases, uncovered the filing and posted it on Twitter.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to say on Thursday what led to the inadvertent disclosure. It was made in a recently unsealed filing in an apparently unrelated sex-crimes case charging a man named Seitu Sulayman Kokayi with coercing and enticing an underage person to engage in unlawful sexual activity. Mr. Kokayi was charged in early August, and on Aug. 22, prosecutors filed a three-page document laying out boilerplate arguments for why his case at that time needed to remain sealed.
While the filing started out referencing Mr. Kokayi, federal prosecutors abruptly switched on its second page to discussing the fact that someone named "Assange" had been secretly indicted, and went on to make clear that this person was the subject of significant publicity, lived abroad and would need to be extradited — suggesting that prosecutors had inadvertently pasted text from a similar court filing into the wrong document and then filed it.
"Another procedure short of sealing will not adequately protect the needs of law enforcement at this time because, due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged," prosecutors wrote. They added, "The complaint, supporting affidavit, and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Friday July 13 2018, @11:13PM (5 children)
Why's everybody always picking on "Organization 1?" [justice.gov]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 13 2018, @11:27PM (3 children)
So fitting for our resident DNC shill. Thanks to "Russia," we know how Bernie got fucked. As far as I can tell, Putin is the good guy there.
If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear. That should sound familiar to a political organization that is taking marching orders from such venerable organizations as the old boy's club on Wall Street and the CIA.
Where is the diversity push in either of those organizations? Oh right. It's only us "incels" in the working class who need to be diversified into unemployment and permanent underemployment.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Saturday July 14 2018, @01:25AM (1 child)
So fitting for our resident DNC shill.
Wrong. I give money TO the DNC. Not the other way around...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:53AM
And I gave money to Bernie. In such a way that I hope the DNC had no ability to put their mitts on it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @04:48AM
That is false. We know that Bernie lost the primary by 3.7 million votes. That's more than Hillary won the general by. No amount of mental contortions and making mountains of molehills can account for that vast gulf. Bernie was not going to win regardless.
If you actually cared about Bernie's platform, then no way in hell you would say that.
If all you cared about Bernie is that you wanted to fuck the democrats, well then you can fuck right off.
If you really believed that, you wouldn't be posting AC.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @04:29AM
What does French province of Bretagne (a.k.a. Brittany) have to do with any of this?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 13 2018, @11:18PM (6 children)
Assange is a rapist incel! He's wanted in 12 systems for rape!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:20AM (5 children)
Ho-hum. Only an AC troll still brings up the rape charges. Except, there never was a rape charge. Julian was accused of some sort of indiscretions that make little sense to Americans, so the American media spun it all into rape. But, both "victims" stated unequivocally that there was no rape. But, you go on believing the media's version of things.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @04:55AM (4 children)
Yeah shut up shitstain. Yours is the party of rapists, pedophiles and sex traffickers. Your opinion of Assange's sexual crimes is less than meaningless.
Just to be clear, these are your people:
Dennis Hastert (&Scott Palmer chief of staff) - Longest GOP Serving Speaker of the House (born again christian) abused teen wrestlers
During sentencing he received 60+ letters from fellow GOP luminaries in support of his 'good' character.
Mark Foley US Rep from Florida - chased congressional pages (juniors in high school)
Jim Jordan US Rep from Ohio (Gym Jordan) as coach he allowed wrestlers to be molested on his watch
Tim Nolan - Kentucky "hanging judge" trump state campaign chair and convicted sex trafficker
Ralph Shortey - Oklahoma State Senator trump state campaign chair and convicted sex trafficker
Roy Moore - Alabama Chief Justice of supreme court & senate candidate unindicted child molestor
Eric Greitens - Missouri governor (sexual assault and blackmail)
Blake Farenthold - texas rep (sexual harassment paid with tax dollars)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 15 2018, @06:07AM (3 children)
I didn't state an opinion. I stated a plain, simple fact. There was never a rape charge against Assange. If you think differently, offer a citation. Not American MSM, because MSM isn't smart enough to understand, or to convey, the distinctions between the various sex related offenses in Europe. Find one single European news source that claims Julian Assange was charged with rape.
You CAN, however, find citations, in which BOTH of the victims state clearly that they were NOT RAPED.
Your list of American heroes has no bearing on this case.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @06:17AM (2 children)
You know, I'm coming around to the idea that you are a pedo too. It sure would explain a lot.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 15 2018, @06:32AM (1 child)
Don't chase that poor idea that you have your eye on. If you capture it, it will just die of loneliness.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @02:01PM
Holy shit, runaway is a russian bot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 13 2018, @11:23PM (21 children)
Before Trump won, Assange arguably was a hero in the eyes of many liberals, and Comey was an authoritarian twat. Now Assange is a traitor for many of those liberals, while Comey is the second coming of Christ that will flush Trump out of the White House and install Queen Hillary.
The magnetic field seems to have flipped for the conservatives too.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 13 2018, @11:27PM
That's addressed in the second paragraph.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 13 2018, @11:29PM
Trump has already signed an executive order making it impossible for #CrookedHillary to become president whether or not he ends up having to give himself a full presidential pardon.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Saturday July 14 2018, @01:30AM (13 children)
How strange... Before he illegally interfered with a US election we were fin with him. And then after he illegally interfered with a US election suddenly we didn't like him so much. It's so confusing!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:16AM (6 children)
How did Assange "illegally interfered" with a US election? Assange falls under the heading of "journalist". He may or may not have edited his source stories, but every editor in US history has done so. So - reporting is illegal now? Or, reporting is only illegal when you don't like the source of the story? Or, reporting is illegal because you dislike the slant of the editorializing?
It's really not all that confusing. A powerful woman with a lot of skeletons in her closet took a terrible dislike to a reporter/editor. Politics as usual.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Saturday July 14 2018, @03:17AM (5 children)
How did Assange "illegally interfered" with a US election? Assange falls under the heading of "journalist".
"Organization 1" is probably going to come out of this whole thing with some charges. [justice.gov]
That's just a prediction at this point, though....
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday July 14 2018, @07:11AM (1 child)
I don't see Assange's name on that document.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @05:04AM
You are right. There aren't any names beyond the 12 GRU officers.
But you know what there is in that document? A Julian Assange shaped hole called "Organization 1"
The sad thing is that because he's a sociopath with narcissistic personality disorder, Assange has taken down wikileaks's good name. All the good will and reputation the organization had earned for all the good work they did, he flushed that down the toilet in his vendetta against clinton. He burned all of his principles on the altar of revenge and in so doing he handed the establishment everything they needed to discredit wikileaks.
If you really card about wikileaks's stated goals, you would be livid with rage that Assange threw it all away for his own petty grievances. The thing about being a martyr is you actually have to go down fighting for a real cause. In the end, Assange is just dragging everybody else down with him. He's no martyr, he's just another corrupt user, absolutely no different from the people he claims to be fighting.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:42PM (2 children)
That's rather boring, actually. But, like Diemtee, I fail to find "assange" in a search of that document. So, not only boring, but irrelevant. Likewise, a search for "wikileaks" gives me nothing.
Now, I know you're pretty smart. Maybe you just copy/pasted the wrong link into your reply. Take this opportunity to respond with something meaningful.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @06:48PM (1 child)
What is Organization 1 if not WikiLeaks, I thought to myself? Then I remembered that DCLeaks site. Looked up the Wikipedia for it, and what do we have?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCLeaks [wikipedia.org]
So yeah, looks like DeathMonkey might have forgotten that other site. Although both DCLeaks and WikiLeaks ultimately published the material, so...
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @05:09AM
The problem with your analysis is that DCLeaks had not previously posted documents from anyone. As you quoted, it was created in June 2016. The indictment starts by saying "Beginning in or around June 2016, the Conspirators staged and released tens of thousands of the stolen emails and documents." Since there was no "DCLeaks" before June 2016, that description does not match.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:59AM (4 children)
FBI director Comey interfered in the election the week before, in full public, but please continue pounding on Assange and praying to the altar of Comey, just because Trump finally fired him because it was apparent he was a loose cannon.
(Score: 2) by Aegis on Saturday July 14 2018, @04:37AM (3 children)
Yes.... the anti-Trump bias at the FBI was to release damaging information about the Clinton campaign...
Clearly it's a deep state conspiracy to make white rice brown.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @04:39PM (1 child)
You have to read that OIG report: https://www.justice.gov/file/1071991/download [justice.gov]
To me it looks like he thought he was being set up to be a fall guy, that "tarmac meeting" was the last straw.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @07:53PM
A fall guy under Obama, or Trump, or both?
And look what we have now: A corrosive public discussion, and huge damage to the Justice Department and the sense of justice in the country.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @05:15AM
It sure is weird that congress has suddenly got oversight fever. But for some reason the only thing they want oversight on is one specific ongoing case. I mean, all that brouhaha about wiretapping and NSA spying, and yet the very same people raising a ruckus also just signed off on extending the NSA's wiretapping abilities. And I don't mean same people as in generic congress members, I mean, the exact same people on the exact same house intelligence committee. [eff.org]
So strange!! I am so perplexed. NOT.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @05:34AM
If releasing the truth is 'illegally interfering' with the US election - whether that information was gotten from a hack or not - then those laws need to be struck down immediately. I don't care whether it's illegal, and I wish the same would happen to the RNC.
Note that the 'It's illegal!' argument was used just as often against Snowden.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:13AM (4 children)
Assange became a Clinton boogeyman much earlier than Trump's win. She was still pretending to be Secretary of State when she decided that he was evil.
https://www.rt.com/usa/361459-secretary-clinton-drone-assange/ [rt.com]
Several weeks, or only a few months earlier, Clinton was talking Assange up, but she had to "pivot" for a number of crazy reasons. Crazy reason number one centers around that unsecured, unethical (if not outright illegal) private server that Hillary had.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-adviser-roger-stone-sought-clinton-emails-assange-article-1.4008373 [nydailynews.com]
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @03:06AM (3 children)
True, but many liberal Americans including me welcomed the exposure of the machinations of the rich and powerful. It was only when Hillary kicked Bernie off the stage that many liberals lost their liberalness and it had to be Hillary or bust. The idea of a Trump presidency was the end of the world, and anyone interfering with Hillary had to be destroyed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @12:01PM (2 children)
That is yet another reason why she lost. She tried to blackmail voters with 'vote for me or you get Trump'. Too many people called her on that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @05:31AM (1 child)
You say blackmail, I say trusted people to see the obvious. Apparently she over-estimated the quality of the people in our country. Kinda ironic given the way she was smeared for saying that half of trump's supporters are: [nymag.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @09:28AM
Not really, the criticism of that speech was primarily for saying that the other half of the supporters are: [time.com]
(Score: 2) by hoeferbe on Saturday July 14 2018, @03:48AM (1 child)
("the weekend" being 6 days ago) and...
I know I rely a little too much on news aggregator websites, but I'm surprised that this is the 1st I've heard of this. And this is the 3rd one they've done! Why are we only hearing about this now?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @05:31AM
Very little reporting of this one. WSWS and TAC were the only ones I saw in GNews.
First was timed to the anniversary of his embassy stay.
We did trash this sub: https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=27269 [soylentnews.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]