News

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• Information about media coverage of Julian Assange’s Supreme Court extradition appeal, on February 1 and 2, was shared today.
  According to Jerome Taylor, reporter for The Independent, the Supreme Court itself indicated that the hearing will be broadcast live, by Sky News, on this page.
  And that due to "considerable public interest", the Supreme Court is enforcing accreditation for the hearing, with priority given to press from the UK, Sweden and Australia.
  Judgement is likely to be reserved for a few weeks, Jerome also tweeted.

  (Two support demonstrations are planned on this date: one at the Supreme Court in London, from 8:30AM, and other at Sydney's Town Hall, 5:30PM.
  More details under Upcoming WikiLeaks Dates.)

• It has been determined that one of the witnesses Bradley Manning’s defense is attempting to question prior to his trial is Hillary Clinton, despite her name being blacked out in the document filed by his lawyer. Clinton is one of the many witnesses that Bradley Manning’s defense originally intended to call to testify but was denied.

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• Suggestions made to the US House of Representatives for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks to be tried in a military court, under a style of law similar to the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 (NDAA), pre-date the NDAA by approximately one year.
  On the 30th November 2010, Representatives Franks, Lamborn and King urged the creation of new legislation in order to prosecute Julian Assange as a terrorist, and hinted at his detention in Guantanamo Bay:

  "I wish and I hope that there’s a way that we can find a way to prosecute a man like that, that we can protect ourselves. And if we fail to do that, or even if we’re successful in that and it exposes some other vulnerabilities, I suggest, Mr. Speaker, that this Congress take a look at some new legislation, a new structure of law, that’s really not brought about because of the actions of Mr. Assange but brought about because of the actions of our enemies, our terrorist enemies.", a transcript of their speeches reads.

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• A Spanish judge has re-opened investigation into the alleged torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and is seeking to obtain from newspaper El Pais documents released by WikiLeaks that were cited as evidence of abuse in order to determine if the officers who signed them should be called as witnesses.

• Today, for the first time, the extradition of a British citizen to the US on a copyright case was ordered.
  Richard O’Dwyer, a 23 year old student who ran the website TVShack, faces extradition for linking to other websites where copyrighted content was shared. The website he owned did not host any illegal content itself and his defense argues this is therefore not a criminal case under UK law and as such extradition to the US should be out of question, given that the case does not fit under the dual criminality principle (it is not a crime in both countries).
  This ruling might relate to future decisions made on Julian Assange’s extradition case, as he is still under house arrest without charge in the UK, fighting extradition to Sweden and it is possible extradition to the United States is requested in relation to the US Grand Jury investigation against WikiLeaks.

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• All charges against Bradley Manning were referred to court-martial today by Investigating Officer Paul Almanza. This is not yet a final decision: IO Almanza forwarded a report to Col. Carl R. Coffman, the Special Court Martial Convening Authority, for review.

  Col. Coffman has to either dispose of these charges or forward the case to the commander of the Military District of Washington, Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, who will have final word on how to proceed with the case. Maj. Gen. Linnington is responsible for having ordered investigation on Bradley Manning to begin with.

  This recommendation was addressed in a press release by the Bradley Manning Support Network, where its legal advisor Kevin Zeese denounces a contradiction between charges brought against Manning and official impact assessments showing WikiLeaks caused no harm to US national security.

15 Overlooked Facts About the Assange Extradition Case

1) Julian Assange is not charged with anything in Sweden or any other country.
[Source: @wikileaks]

2) Julian Assange did not flee Sweden to avoid questioning. He was given permission to leave the country on the 15th September 2010, after remaining 5 weeks in Sweden for the purpose of answering the allegations made against him.
[Source: Undue delay for Julian Assange's interrogation]

3) The case against Julian Assange was initially dropped, and deemed so weak it could not warrant investigation. After the intervention of a Swedish politician close to American diplomats, it was revived by a different prosecutor. [Source: Why is Julian Assange in jail?]

4) In all instances, the 2 plaintiffs consented to sexual intercourse, which they did not take the initiative to stop: they never expressed non-consent and afterwards declared to not have felt threatened by Julian Assange.
[Sources: Swedish Police Report and The offences described in the EAW are not extradition offences]

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• A document containing analysis of news coverage of Bradley Manning’s pretrial hearing by the US Army was released today by Politico. The Army used a service called VOCUS to track not only traditional press coverage, but also social media in near-real time, for instance tweets containing the hashtag #Manning.
  VOCUS identified most coverage as being “negative”, but also mostly “balanced and factual”. Part of the report deals with the number of stories on Lt. Dan Choi’s removal from Fort Meade:

  "Since former Lt. Dan Choi's disturbance outside of the courtroom there have been 118 print and online stories; and 67 social network conversations in reference to the incident."

  Also today, journalist Kevin Gosztola wrote about his experience covering the hearing from the Media Operations Center at Fort Meade. He recalls that, on the first day, the social media director on the public affairs staff asked the media if they would agree to use a single hashtag to categorize their tweets.
  “In retrospect”, he writes, “it appears she may have been trying to make it easier to track media tweets.”

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• Cables published by WikiLeaks reveal that the US State Department placed pressure on Spanish authorities to silence Baltasar Garzon, the judge who, in 1998, ordered the arrest and extradition of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
  Due to pressure from the Obama administration, Garzon was removed from the Bush 6 case and forced to drop investigation into:
  
  
  - the death of a Spanish reporter who was killed by US shelling in Baghdad;

  - allegations by Spanish Guantanamo detainees of being tortured;

  - use of Spanish bases for CIA “rendition” flights.
  
  
  Judge Baltasar Garzon himself faces trial, beginning January 17, on “corruption charges”. The most serious charge he is facing (exceeding authority) relates to an order issued, at the request of families, to exhume the remains of victims assassinated during the Franco regime. More than 200 international organizations condemn prosecution against him.
  [Source: Dissident Voice]

”Out of Africa always comes something new” wrote the Roman historian Pliny, (23-79 A.D.) With Mummar Qaddafi gone from Libyan, this old adage will almost certainly gain new meaning because Qaddafi was not only the dictator who ruled Libya with the whip for 40 years, he was a major power in African affairs. He sought to unify Africa under his leadership and saw himself as "King of all the African tribes." Well, with the kickoff of Occupy Nigeria, we are seeing something new in Africa today.

Uploaded by AnonymousNigeria on January 9, 2012
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, 160 million people or 1 in 6 Africans live in Nigeria, so any movement there is bound to have a big impact on the whole continent. Could this have anything to do with Qaddafi's recent demise and the success of the revolution in Libya? These are the main questions I wish to touch upon in this article. But first a quick update for those that have not been glued to news out of Africa all day.

3 people were killed and at least another 20 were injured as Nigerian state security used tear gas and rubber bullets and finally resorted to live ammunition in attempts to suppress mass protests in Lagos and other major cities in Nigeria. Except for the rallies, the streets were eerily empty, and shops and businesses closed as most of the country was brought to a grinding halt by a nationwide general strike which its organizers have named "Occupy Nigeria."

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• Only 1300 new members needed before activist network Friends of WikiLeaks fully launches.

• In less than 20 hours, the auction for WikiLeaks Truck will close. Current bid is US $7.600.00.

• L’Espresso journalist Stefania Maurizi describes, in a series of tweets her experience meeting Julian Assange to receive italian cables in January 2011 and, prior to that, the Afghan war Logs, right after Julian Assange left Sweden in 2010. Recommended reading, as the misconception Julian Assange fled Sweden to escape interrogation is dispelled. In fact, he remained in the country for over a month to answer allegations against him, yet he was not called to be interrogated. He was instead given permission to travel abroad: “Assange was NOT trying to avoid questioning in Sweden, we had an appointment in Berlin, where I was supposed to get the Afghan War Logs”, Stefania Maurizi writes.

• Stainless Steel Rat, a controversial Australian play consisting of a fictional plot vaguely inspired by reports on Julian Assange’s life, was target of so much criticism its name and dialogue had to be modified. Since 14 December, the play now known as Man in the Middle has gone through 14 drafts.

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• WikiLeaks has been under financial blockade for 400 days. Consider making a donation so its work can continue.

• On twitter, WikiLeaks linked to the source document showing Apple and Blackberry backdoors were used by Indian Military Intelligence to intercept communications of the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) on issues that are “of great value to Indian industry”.
  The document is part of WikiLeaks’ Spy Files release.

• Twitter, Facebook, Google and five other corporations endorse online piracy bill OPEN, an alternative to SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), that would also authorize financial embargo of websites suspected of copyright infrigement by payment processors. Banking blockades identical to that unlawfully imposed on WikiLeaks could, under these bills, become the norm. [via The Hill]

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories relating directly to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression.

News

• In Denmark, a scandal over the transfer of Iraqi prisoners by Danish forces who knew the prisoners would be tortured at the hands of Iraq authorities threatens to implicate the current Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former Prime Minister of Denmark. The defense ministry in his government is now being charged with withholding his knowledge of Iraqi torture from legislators.
  This information first became known in 2010, when WikiLeaks released the Iraq War Logs, which contained a memo indicating that prisoners were handed over to Abu Ghraib by Danish soldiers even after an inquiry by "a Danish Defence Ministry official" had confirmed torture took place in the facility.
  truthout links to a similar story revealed in the Iraq War Logs: US turned over captives to Iraqi torture squads.

• Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearing was scripted in advance: Politico released the script to the pretrial, which lays out statements for the Investigating Officer (judge) and Prosecution, and states it was generally adhered to.

News

Request to keep WikiLeaks backers' private Twitter data from US Prosecutors denied

• Yesterday, WikiLeaks backers Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gonggrijp and Birgitta Jonsdottir lost a bid to keep their private Twitter data from being handed over to US prosecutors, in the context of a Grand Jury criminal investigation on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.
  According to American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Aden Fine, Birgitta Jonsdottir’s representative, his client may consider asking the appeals court to delay turning over the data.

‘War on The Internet’, panel with Jacob Appelbaum

• The panel will take place in Melbourne, on January 21 (Trades Hall Melbourne cnr Victoria & Lygon, at 3PM).

News

The implications of SOPA, NDAA and mass telecommunication surveillance

• In an article published in Digital Trends, Geoff Duncan analyses the National Defense Authorization Act, proposed copyright bill SOPA and mass telecommunication surveillance. He asks the question: Will 2012 end up resembling George Orwell’s novel 1984?
  The article also focuses on the link between NDAA and the possibility the work of WikiLeaks and Anonymous might, in the future, constitute terrorist activity:

  “This may not seem to have anything to do with the Internet”, he writes of the NDAA, “until you think about groups like Anonymous and Wikileaks. Could Anonymous (or groups within Anonymous) attacking credit card operators, the threatening the NYSE, law enforcement organizations, or other organizations constitute terrorist activity? Similarly, would Wikileaks’ publication of classified U.S. diplomatic cables constitute terrorist activity? Suddenly, everyday Internet users speaking up in support of groups like Anonymous and Wikileaks might find themselves accused of aiding and facilitating terrorists. Similarly, if U.S. authorities decide these or similar groups’ activities constitute terrorism, members or alleged members might find themselves shipped to Guantanamo. No trial, no process, no appeal.”

Day of Action Against Guantanamo

News

Activists take legal action over fabricated Embassy cable

• In Egypt, several activists have filed legal action against newspaper Al-Wafd over the publication of a translation of a diplomatic cable originally published by WikiLeaks, to which names of activists not present in the original document were added, so as to make it appear these specific people had received “secret funds” from the United States.
  Original document published by WikiLeaks: 08CAIRO941

Interview with creator of the play 'The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning'

• In an interview about the play that will be staged in April at a school once attended by Bradley Manning in Wales, playwright Tim Price expressed admiration for the alleged whistleblower:

News

• WikiLeaks tweeted the following, about a project in course: "Interviewing revolutionaries & power insiders on plans & futures, utopian vs dystopian-suggest a name #worldtomorrow"

• The WikiLeaks Truck is for sale, so we can have more WikiLeaks trucks around the world. Artist Clark Stoeckley, the owner, plans to expand the project into a global fleet of WikiLeaks trucks. More information at @WikiLeaksTruck.

• In response to WikiLeaks, lawyer Peter Kemp determines Julian Assange is able to run for Australian Senate from house arrest in England, reflects on the policy of a hypothetical WikiLeaks party: wlcentral.org/node/2401

2011 ended with the alarming approval of the National Defense Authorization Act by the US Congress, which places ultimate authority on the President of the United States to decide on the indefinite military detention of terrorism suspects worldwide. The bill was signed on New Year’s Eve, its strategic timing reminiscent of the date set for Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearing, which also took place during last year’s holiday season.

As of the 1st of 2012:

2011 actually started on December 17, 2010 although none of us knew it at the time. On that provident day a fruit peddler in Tunisia decided that he was mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. In the year since then, his sentiment has been echoed by millions around the globe in the greatest show of people power that we have seen in more than 40 years.

Mohamed Bouazizi, who could find no other work and took to selling fruits and vegetables, had grown tired of the police harassment. When his complaints to city hall went unanswered, he doused himself with gasoline and lit a fire that is blazing still.

Had his act of defiance happened in any earlier epoch, it most likely would have gained little notice outside of word of mouth, but we now live in an age when word of mouth spans the globe. We have the technology, even in North Africa.

So news of his defiance spread throughout Tunisia in a flash and the people rose up to demand justice from the government. Then, via WikiLeaks, the Tunisian people found out just how corrupt their government really was and started to demand an end to the 20 year rule of Ben Ali. When they did this, their struggle took a revolutionary turn.

This month new and incriminating details have come to light about a secret meeting of high-level Quantico officials that took place on January 13, 2011, resulting in Manning's illegal punitive pretrial confinement.

On March 2, 2011, PFC Bradley Manning, then confined under Maximum custody and Prevention of Injury Watch (POI) at Quantico, where he had been since July 29, 2010, was told that his Article 138 request to be placed under Medium custody and removed from harsh and punitive pretrial confinement was denied by Daniel J. Choike, Quantico base commander (pictured at the left).

The continued placement of Manning under such terms and conditions, indeed the exacerbation of his illegal pretrial confinement in March, when he was stripped every evening and forced to stand at attention naked every morning until his unexpected transfer to Fort Leavenworth on April 20, 2011, happened despite numerous cited evaluations by brig personnel, including brig psychiatrists, who recommended his removal from Maximum Custody and POI Status.

Defense had filed the original Article 138 request on January 19, 2011, one day after Manning was placed under "suicide risk", which resulted in his remaining in his cell for 24 hours a day and being stripped of all clothing with the exception of his underwear. His eyeglasses were also removed, which left him, as he describes in "total blindness". According to defense documents, the stripping and interrogation that Manning endured was videotaped by the Quantico facility.

*Myself pictured with Daniel Choi on December 18, 2011. Choi was also in attendance at Fort Meade, MD. You can hear him describe the abuse he experienced at Fort Meade, MD on December 19, 2021 on democracynow.org. He was reportedly thrown to the ground, handcuffed, had his rank ripped off his unifom, and was forcibly ejected from the pretrial proceedings.

I sat next to or near Daniel Choi in the courtroom on both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. I only saw Daniel Choi behaving in a respectful manner during the proceedings or while the court was at recess - both in the gallery or on the premises. The Federal Police Officers began watching the public in attendance more overtly - even hanging around to watch us outside the security perimeter of the courthouse - when Daniel Choi showed up on Saturday.

Unlike Friday all day, and Saturday morning, when Daniel Choi was not in the public gallery, Bradley Manning exited with armed soldiers through the public gallery when recesses were called or at the end of the day.

Starting Saturday afternoon - after Daniel Choi showed up - the public was told to leave the gallery before the guards would even move Bradley Manning, or Bradley Manning was exited through the back.

In fact, after the morning's proceedings on December 18, 2011, I moved to a back row on the defense side of the gallery, and away from Daniel and the others who were talking at a recess. I did this in order to collect myself for the task of transcription.

(PFC Bradley Manning stepping out of a security vehicle outside a courthouse in Fort Meade, MD. Photo: AP/Patrick Semansky)

Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearing began at 9:00 AM on Friday, December 16. It must be noted that this is not a trial but a hearing to decide whether or not there are reasonable grounds to charge PFC Manning and continue with a court-martial hearing. That being said, there will be no “guilty” or “not guilty” verdict at the end of these hearings. Journalists who were allowed to sit in on the hearings were warned of “regular blackouts” while the court went in to private session.

There are a total of 34 counts against PFC Manning, the most serious of which is UCMJ Article 104, “Aiding the Enemy.”

Defense: Mr David Coombs, Major Matthew Kemkes, Captain Paul Bouchard
Prosecution: Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow, Captain Angel Overgaard
Investigative Officer: Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza


Day 6:

Today was the first day the defense got to call witnesses. The first day was spent debating whether the IO was suited for the hearing, and the following four days consisted of the prosecution calling their witnesses.

Defense Witness Testimony: Sergeant Daniel Padgett

SGT Daniel Padgett worked in the SCIF with PFC Manning. He was tasked to be the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCIOC), even though he had no formal training and was not an NCO at the time.