Category Archives: WikiLeaks

Julian Assange says he ‘chose freedom over unrealisable justice’

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WikiLeaks founder says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ in deal for his release and calls for protection of press freedom

Julian Assange has said he chose freedom “over unrealisable justice” as he described his plea deal with US authorities and urged European lawmakers to act to protect freedom of expression in a climate with “more impunity, more secrecy [and] more retaliation for telling the truth”.

In his first public statement since the plea deal in June ended his nearly 14 years of prison, embassy confinement and house arrest in the UK, the WikiLeaks founder argued that legal protections for whistleblowers and journalists “only existed on paper” or “were not effective in any remotely reasonable time”.

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‘You can expect everything’: what next for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks?

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Site’s edge on whistleblowing is gone and its co-founder must recover, yet their resilience may make revival a possibility

As Julian Assange enjoys his first weekend of freedom in years, there appeared to be no question in the mind of his wife, Stella, about what the family’s priorities were.

The WikiLeaks co-founder would need time to recover, she told reporters after they were reunited in his native Australia, after a deal with US authorities that allowed him to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified defence documents.

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From a plea deal to a 2am prison call: how Julian Assange finally gained freedom

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A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder

• Julian Assange released from prison – live updates

It was, as his friends described it, the “last kick of the British establishment”. At 2am on Monday, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs.

It was the beginning of the end of Assange’s incarceration in Britain but it was going to be on his jailers’ terms.

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Experts warn Julian Assange plea deal could set dangerous precedent

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Human rights organisations want the next UK government to seek assurances from the US that it will not pursue journalists publishing classified information

The next UK government must push the US for reassurance it will not pursue journalists for publishing classified information, human rights organisations and experts have argued after the release of Julian Assange.

Experts have warned that the plea deal struck between the WikiLeaks founder and the US authorities – which will see him plead guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act, but avoid serving any additional time in custody – could set a dangerous precedent.

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Reactions to Julian Assange plea deal differ across the US political divide

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Leftist film-maker Michael Moore applauds deal while Mike Pence says it ‘dishonors’ US military members

Reaction to the news that Julian Assange had agreed to plead guilty to a single charge under the Espionage Act in order to go free came from various parts of the US political spectrum on Tuesday.

James Clapper, director of US national intelligence in 2010 when Assange and his WikiLeaks organization published secret US intelligence documents with a consortium of newspapers including the Guardian, told CNN: “I actually think this came out pretty well … Critical to this was his plea of one count of espionage.

“He’s paid his dues,” Clapper added. “There was a damage assessment done at the time – there was concern but I don’t recall direct proof that assets in Afghanistan and Iraq supporting or helping the US were exposed.”

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‘No one should judge’ WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for accepting deal, Australian MP says

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Labor’s Julian Hill says prime minister Anthony Albanese deserves ‘enormous credit’ for pursuing the resolution of Assange’s case

The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be judged poorly “for accepting a deal to get the hell out of there and come home” in light of his poor health, an Australian MP has said.

Australian politicians have reacted cautiously to reports of a plea deal to end the US pursuit of Assange in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables.

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Australia news live: Telstra announces 2,800 job cuts; mediation talks in Reynolds and Higgins defamation case

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Liberal senator, and former political staffer expected to attempt again to resolve a pair of high-profile defamation cases. Follow today’s news headlines live

A High Court decision in Britain to allow Julian Assange to appeal his extradition to the US is a “small win” for the WikiLeaks founder but he should be freed now, the union for Australia’s journalists says.

As AAP reports, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance remains concerned there is no certainty an appeal will be successful, which would mean Assange could still be tried for espionage in the US.

Tonight’s decision by the High Court is a small win for Julian Assange and for the cause of media freedom worldwide.

MEAA welcomes the decision of the High Court, but we remain concerned that there is no guarantee of success.

We call on the Australian government to keep up the pressure on the US to drop the charges so Julian Assange can be reunited with his family.

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Biden says he is ‘considering’ Australian call to drop Julian Assange charges

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US prosecutors say the WikiLeaks founder encouraged and helped Chelsea Manning steal classified files before publishing them

Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long US push to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.

For years, Australia has called on the US to drop its prosecution against Assange, an Australian citizen who has fought American extradition efforts from prison in the UK. Asked about the request on Wednesday, as he hosted the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, for an official visit, Biden said: “We’re considering it.”

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US government lawyers deny charges against Julian Assange politically motivated

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WikiLeaks founder named sources and encouraged theft and hacking, say lawyers at extradition hearing in London

Criminal charges were brought against Julian Assange because he named sources and encouraged theft and hacking, not because of politics, lawyers for the US government have claimed at a critical extradition hearing.

The WikiLeaks founder could be extradited to the US within days to face prosecution on espionage charges relating to the publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents concerning the Afghanistan and Iraq wars if the high court in London refuses him permission to appeal against his removal from the UK.

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Julian Assange: key dates in the WikiLeaks founder’s case

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How Assange went from being questioned in Sweden to living for years in Ecuador’s embassy in London

Julian Assange is to make his final bid for an appeal against a UK judge’s ruling over his extradition to the US.

The WikiLeaks founder is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

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US officials monitored pro-Assange protests in Australia for ‘anti-US sentiment’, documents reveal

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Previously classified papers detail how the US embassy in Canberra responded to WikiLeaks’ release of embassy cables in 2010 and ‘sensationalist’ local media

American officials monitored pro-Assange protests in Australia for “anti-US sentiment”, warned of “increasing sympathy, particularly on the left” for the WikiLeaks founder in his home country and derided local media’s “sensationalist” reporting of the explosive 2010 cable leaks, previously classified records show.

Documents released by the US state department via freedom of information laws give new insight into how the US embassy in Canberra and its security team reacted to WikiLeaks’ release of 250,000 embassy cables in late 2010.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene unite in push to free Julian Assange

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Maga Republican and leftwing Democrat among 16 US Congress members lobbying Joe Biden to drop extradition attempts against WikiLeaks founder

Maga Republican and fierce Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene and leftwing Democratic firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have found common ground in freeing Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The pair are among 16 members of the US Congress who have written directly to president Joe Biden urging the United States to drop its extradition attempts against Assange and halt any prosecutorial proceedings immediately.

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Pope Francis holds meeting with Julian Assange’s wife

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‘He understands Julian is suffering and is concerned,’ says Stella Assange after audience with pontiff

Pope Francis has met Stella Assange, the wife of the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder, who said the pope’s gesture in receiving her was evidence of his “ongoing show of support for our family’s plight” and concern over the suffering of her husband, Julian.

After the audience, Stella Assange said Francis had sent a letter to her husband in March 2021, during a particularly difficult period. “He has provided great solace and comfort and we are extremely appreciative for his reaching out to our family in this way,” she told the Associated Press. “He understands that Julian is suffering and is concerned.”

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Julian Assange writes letter to King Charles and urges him to visit Belmarsh prison

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The WikiLeaks founder writes that he has been captive in the prison for more than four years ‘on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign’

Julian Assange has written a letter to King Charles ahead of his coronation inviting him to visit the UK prison where the WikiLeaks founder has been captive for more than four years “on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign”.

The letter is the first document the Australian journalist and WikiLeaks founder has written and published since his time in Belmarsh prison in London and accounts the horrors of his life there.

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Assange supporters welcome ‘significant’ UK prison visit by Australian high commissioner

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Stephen Smith says he hopes to make regular visits to the WikiLeaks founder, who is in Belmarsh prison and faces espionage charges in the US

Julian Assange’s supporters have welcomed the “very positive and significant” prison visit by Australia’s new high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith.

The Wikileaks cofounder remains in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him to face charges in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as well as diplomatic cables.

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Biden faces growing pressure to drop charges against Julian Assange

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Biden faces a renewed push, domestically and internationally, to drop charges against Assange, who is languishing in a UK jail

The Biden administration has been saying all the right things lately about respecting a free and vigorous press, after four years of relentless media-bashing and legal assaults under Donald Trump.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, has even put in place expanded protections for journalists this fall, saying that “a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy”.

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Julian Assange files appeal against US extradition

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Lawyers for Wikileaks founder, who is indicted on 17 espionage charges in US, say he faces persecution for his ‘political opinions’

Lawyers for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange have filed an appeal against his extradition to the US, as the United Nations human rights chief lends support to the Australian’s cause.

Assange, 51, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges in the US and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of military and diplomatic documents leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

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Julian Assange’s family urge Australian PM Anthony Albanese to intervene before US extradition

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John and Gabriel Shipton say they’re frustrated at Australian PM for lack of progress in WikiLeaks founder’s case since Labor was elected

Julian Assange’s family have said the Albanese government needs to intervene in the case before he is extradited to the US, saying it would effectively be a “death sentence” for the WikiLeaks founder if there was no intervention.

The plight of Assange, who is being held in UK’s Belmarsh prison pending an appeal against his extradition to the US, has been raised with the new US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, by Assange’s Australian solicitor, Stephen Kenny.

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Julian Assange wins first stage of attempt to appeal against extradition

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WikiLeaks co-founder is seeking to appeal against ruling that he can be sent to US to face espionage charges

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be able to go to the supreme court to challenge a decision allowing him to be extradited to the US.

However, the high court refused him permission for a direct appeal, meaning the supreme court will have to decide whether or not it should hear his challenge.

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There Will Be No More Night review – chilling meditation on modern warfare

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Éléonore Weber’s documentary, air-strike footage of pilots on night missions, could work well in a gallery

This hypnotic meditation on modern warfare from Éléonore Weber is an experimental cine-essay that feels closer to a gallery installation than a documentary. Watching it is a bit of a test of concentration: 75 minutes of helicopter airstrike footage from American and French missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clip after clip of pilots following what’s on the ground hundreds of metres below. Who is that in their crosshairs: a Taliban fighter holding a Kalashnikov or a farmer with a rake? Farmers know that they get mistaken for fighters, so run and hide their tools when they hear helicopters. Which of course makes them look suspicious.

In the cockpit, we hear American voices: “Request permission to engage.” “We got a guy with an RPG.” This is the notorious video WikiLeaks dubbed Collateral Murder, a US airstrike filmed from an Apache helicopter in 2007. The rocket-propelled grenade launcher turned out to be a camera tripod belonging to a Reuters photographer, who was one of a dozen civilians killed in the attack. It’s impossible to watch and not think of computer games. “Kill! Kill! Kill” we hear in another video – you can almost feel the itch to shoot everything that moves.

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