WikiLeaks to release files on 'every country'

LONDON — WikiLeaks will release one million documents next year affecting every country in the world, founder Julian Assange said in a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday.

In a "Christmas message" marking six months since he sought asylum in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over claims of rape and sexual assault, Assange also said the door was open to negotiations.
Assange said to cheers from around 100 supporters that despite spending half of 2012 holed up in the building it had been a "huge year" in which his anti-secrecy website had released documents about Syria and other topics.
"Next year will be equally busy. WikiLeaks has already over one million documents being prepared to be released, documents that affect every country in the world -- every country in this world," he said to applause.

Julian Assange (AFP photo)

The Australian former computer hacker thanked Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa for granting him asylum and hit out at the United States and other Western governments.
"True democracy is not the White House, true democracy is not cameras, true democracy is the resistance of people armed with the truth against lies from Tahrir to London," he said.
But the 41-year-old added that "the door is open, and the door has always been open, for anyone who wishes to speak to me" to resolve the situation.
He raised his hand in a clenched fist salute at the end of the speech.
A statement issued by the Ecuadorian ambassador said: "At a time of year when people come closer together, Ecuador reaffirms the solidarity that our country gave six months ago to a person who was being persecuted for thinking and expressing themselves freely.
"Now is a moment for reflection and togetherness. On behalf of my country, I reiterate our support for Julian Assange.
"Julian has become a guest in this house that we all have learned to appreciate," added the statement.
Supporter Blake Cohen, an unemployed father-of-one, told AFP: "I don't know about his personal life -- I'm not a fly on the wall -- but I know that WikiLeaks is an organisation that promotes peace and justice.
"The rape allegations seem like a classic honeytrap," he added.
It was Assange's first public appearance since he addressed a crowd from the same balcony -- now festooned with fairy lights -- on August 19 and Ecuadorian officials have since said that he is suffering from health problems.
Britain has refused to grant him safe passage to either Ecuador or to hospital, saying it has a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden after Assange lost his final battle in the British courts in June.
Assange claims that if he is extradited to Sweden he could eventually be sent to the United States for prosecution over WikiLeaks' controversial release of secret US military and diplomatic files.
He says he could face life in prison or even the death penalty in the US.
Source:  Bankok Post
21/12/2012

Watch Julian Assange's speech in full on video.

Courtesy of ABC Australia.  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-21/us-denies-assange-claims/4211574

Statement by Julian Assange August 2012

Source:  http://wikileaks.org/Official-Statement-by-Julian.html

Official Statement by Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy Sunday August 19th, 14:30 BST

(This version has been proofed)

I am here because I cannot be closer to you.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for your resolve and your generosity of spirit.

On Wednesday night after a threat was sent to this embassy and the police descended on the building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it and you brought the world’s eyes with you.

Inside the embassy, after dark, I could hear teams of police swarming into the building through the internal fire escape.

But I knew that there would be witnesses.

And that is because of you.

If the UK did not throw away the Vienna Conventions the other night, it is

because the world was watching.

And the world was watching because you were watching.

The next time somebody tells you that it is pointless to defend the rights

we hold dear, remind them of your vigil in the dark outside the Embassy of Ecuador, and how, in the morning, the sun came up on a different world, and a courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.

And so, to those brave people:

I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and

granting me political asylum.

And so I thank the government and the Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patio, who have upheld the Ecuadorian constitution and its notion of universal rights in their consideration of my case.

And to the Ecuadorian people for supporting and defending their

constitution.

And I have a debt of gratitude to the staff of this embassy whose families

live in London and who have shown me hospitality and kindness despite the threats that they have received.

This Friday there will be an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of

Latin America in Washington D.C. to address this situation.

And so I am grateful to the people and governments of Argentina, Bolivia,

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico,

Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela and to all other Latin American countries who

have come to the defence of the right to asylum.

To the people of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and

Australia who have supported me in strength while their governments have not. And to those wiser heads in government who are still fighting for justice. Your day will come.

To the staff, supporters and sources of WikiLeaks whose courage, commitment and loyalty have seen no equal.

To my family and to my children who have been denied their father: forgive me. We will be reunited soon.

As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of our societies.

We must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the

government of the United States of America.

Will it return to and reaffirm the values it was founded on?

Or will it lurch off the precipice dragging us all into a dangerous and

oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of

prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark?

I say that it must turn back.

I ask President Obama to do the right thing.

The United States must renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks.

The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation.

The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or

our supporters.

The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue

journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful.

There must be no more foolish talk about prosecuting any media

organization, be it WikiLeaks or the New York Times.

The US administration’s war on whistle-blowers must end.

Thomas Drake, William Binney, John Kirakou and the other heroic US

whistle-blowers must - they must - be pardoned and compensated for the

hardships they have endured as servants of the public record.

And the Army Private who remains in a military prison in Fort Leavenworth Kansas, who was found by the UN to have endured months of torturous detention in Quantico Virginia and who has yet - after two years in prison - to see a trial, must be released.

And if Bradley Manning really did as he is accused, he is a hero, an

example to us all and one of the world’s foremost political prisoners.

Bradley Manning must be released.

On Wednesday, Bradley Manning spent his 815th day in detention without

trial. The legal maximum is 120 days.

On Thursday, my friend, Nabeel Rajab, was sentenced to 3 years for a tweet.

On Friday, a Russian band was sentenced to 2 years in jail for a political

performance.

There is unity in the oppression.

There must be absolute unity and determination in the response.

Timeline of Wikileaks & Assange to August 2012

*As always, a good timeline lessens confusion

*December 2006:* Julian Assange, a former Australian computer hacker,

founds Wikileaks.org <http://wikileaks.org/>. The website aims to provide a platform for whistleblowers to post sensitive and secret political

documents while keeping their identity anonymous.

*February 2008:* Wikileaks exposes Swiss Bank, Julius Baer, for involvement in money laundering. It publishes internal documents to show that the bank was helping clients launder funds via the Cayman Islands. This leads to the first of many legal charges against Wikileaks.

*November 2009:* Wikileaks releases a comprehensive archive of text pager messages recorded in the US on September 11,2001, the day when hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

*April 2010:* Wikileaks releases a video of a 2007 US military helicopter

strike on Baghdad, Iraq, and the casualties that resulted from this.

Bradley Manning, an American soldier, is charged and arrested for leaking

the information.

*July 2010:* Wikileaks releases classified US military documents on the war in Afghanistan <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-war-logs> revealing details of civilian victims and alleged links between Pakistan and the Taliban.

*August 2010:* A Swedish court issues an arrest warrant for Assange on

charges of rape made by two Swedish women, who were also former employees of Wikileaks but then decides to postpone the warrant until November.

*October 2010:* Wikileaks releases some 400,000 accounts written by

American soldiers from 2004 to 2009 revealing that the US decided to ignore cases of torture by Iraqi authorities on civilians.

*November 2010:* Swedish prosecutor re-issues European arrest warrant for Assange. Ten days later, Wikileaks releases classified US diplomatic

cables, revealing assessments of American officials on a range of issues

together with views of other governments.

*December 2010:* Assange hands himself over to London’s police and is

placed in custody pending a Swedish court’s ruling on the extradition

request. A few days later, Assange is released on bail and tells media that

the rape allegations are part of a politically-motivated campaign to

undermine him. He was ordered by the court to live at a supporter’s country side mansion in eastern England.

*February 2011:* A British judge rules Assange can be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations. He dismisses claims made by Assange’s lawyers who argued that Assange would not receive a fair trial in Sweden. The 39-year-old denied three allegations of sexual assault and one allegation of rape in Stockholm last year.

*July 2011:* Assange appeals against the extradition ruling.

*September 2011:* Assange’s unauthorised biography is released in England in which he completely denies the sexual assault allegations made against him.

*October 2011:* Assange announces Wikileaks will temporarily stop

publishing classified US diplomatic files to concentrate on fundraising for

the website after incurring a 95% loss in its revenue due to a financial

blockade by credit card companies such as MasterCard and Visa.

*November 2011:* British High Court judges reject Assange’s appeal against his extradition to Sweden.

*January 2012:* Assange appeals his extradition at British Supreme Court.

*May 2012:* British Supreme Court rejects Assange’s extradition appeal and rules that he must be tried in Sweden.

*June 2012:* Assange makes a plea for asylum in Ecuador after seeking

refuge at the South American nation’s embassy in London. Ecuador’s foreign

minister announced that they would be evaluating Assange’s request

according to international law.

*June 28th 2012:* Assange ordered by British police to turn himself in on

an extradition notice.

*June 29th 2012:* Assange refuses to turn

himself<http://www.euronews.com/2012/06/29/assange-refuses-to-surrender-to-uk-police/>

in

to British police and officials say they will arrest him as soon as he

leaves Ecuador’s embassy. Ecuador delays decision on Assange’s request for

asylum.

*July 2012:* Wikileaks hires Spain’s former human rights judge, Baltasar

Garzon, to lead the legal team fighting for Assange. Garzon is said to have met Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. read

more<http://www.euronews.com/2012/07/25/wikileaks-hire-spain-human-rights-judge/>

*August 2012:* UK warns Ecuador it may raid its London embassy if it

Doesn’t hand over Assange to the British police. Ecuador condemns such a threat and few hours later, announces that it will grant Assange political

asylum.

A message from Bradley's attorney David Coombs.

Supporters held a vigil in solidarity with Bradley Manning's June 6-8th motion hearing. Nathan Fuller reports back from the court room, and PFC Bradley Manning's attorney, David Coombs, sends a message of gratitude to supporters, thanking them for all the help and support Bradley has received. You can help Bradley in several ways: donate to his defense fund, send a solidarity photo, or attend his next appearance in Ft. Meade, on June 25.

---

By David Coombs. June 12, 2012.
Over the past two years, thousands of individuals have either donated to the defense fund or given freely of their time to support PFC Bradley Manning. The support provided has come in many forms:
1) Signing petitions (standwithbrad.org);
2) Standing up to say "I am Bradley Manning" (iam.bradleymanning.org);
3) Writing to military/government authorities;
4) Writing letters to the editors of local and national newspapers;
5) Attending marches, rallies, and other public events to raise awareness about Bradley Manning;
6) Using social media to write about the case and the events of every hearing;
7) Contacting government representatives;
8) Sending messages of support to my law office;
9) Donating to the legal defense fund; or
10) Volunteering with the Bradley Manning Support Network and Courage to Resist.

At every court hearing, I am given the opportunity to witness this support first hand. The attendance by supporters during these hearings as been nothing short of inspiring. Although my client is not permitted to engage those in attendance, he aware of your presence and support.
During our latest hearing on 6 - 8 June, I was particularly struck by the warmth of support by those in attendance. At one point during a break, I had causally mentioned that it was my anniversary. Apparently a supporter had overheard this statement, and took up a collection to give flowers, a balloon, and a thoughtful card to me and my wife. This kind gesture is emblematic of the type of people who are supporting Brad.
I would like to publicly thank all those who have supported my client over the past two years. I also want to pass on the following message from Brad: "I am very grateful for your support and humbled by your ongoing efforts." Brad also asked me to specifically thank on his behalf the unflinching support of Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network.
What happens in this court-martial is of vital importance to all of us. With your continued support, we will ensure that justice is achieved for Brad.