2012-03-06 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles; Updated events; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 458 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 455 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 652 days.


WikiLeaks News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • WikiLeaks continues to release more G.I. Files daily. Here is the latest coverage:
    • Stratfor sees New Zealand as holding little geopolitical importance.
    • Mossad assisted their Saudi counterparts with intelligence on Iran
    • Assad's mother is disappointed by his failures as Syrian President
    • Papua New Guinea's new PM, Peter O'Neill, is only interested in money
    • Stratfor believes Turkey's PM Erdogan has two years to live
  • Cabledrum has released a tool for searching through articles on the G.I. Files, using a tag-based system of Country, Language, and Publisher.
  • The story of Osama Bin Laden's body being taken to Dover, DE instead of being buried at sea is now being covered by many large news organizations including RT, Huffington Post, and The Telegraph.
  • Bhopal activist Indra Sinha wrote on discovering he was being spied on by Dow Chemical. This revelation has caused increased protests against Dow's sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics.
  • RT's The Keiser Report discussed the G.I. Files with Yes Men's Andy Bichlbaum as a guest.
  • Kevin Gosztola continues covering the G.I. Files in his live-blog at Firedoglake.


  • WikiLeaks issued a press release on the recent articles by Expressen which claim WikiLeaks is planning a smear campaign against Sweden. WikiLeaks says these claims are completely fabricated and calls for Thomas Mattson to "issue a full, front page retraction, or resign." Previously, Kristinn Hrafnsson wrote a piece for SVT saying WikiLeaks has no plans to defame Sweden. Expressen then declined to debate WikiLeaks on the issue.


  • WikiLeaks tweeted out a clarification saying, "WikiLeaks "dropped" the New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais-NOT the other way around." Specifically, they pointed out the abuse of censorship, The Guardian breaking "all 3 points of its contract and acting negligently," David Leigh's publication of the Cablegate password, and the New York Times killing its story on US Task Force 373. They did however note they continue to work with individual journalists from said organizations.


  • Geoffrey Robertson QC was on Sunrise discussing the topic "Should Australia help Assange?":


  • Göran Rudling, a witness at Julian Assange's February 2011 hearing at Belmarsh, wrote a detailed analysis on the condom submitted in the case which he believes to be falsified evidence.


  • Viggo Mortensen, known for his role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings triology, has listed Julian Assange as one of his heroes.


  • A short interview of Julian Assange is featured in a video of the premier of Europe's Last Dictator.


  • An Op-Ed in Sydney Morning Herald says that one of the first tasks for Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr is to demand basic respect in the treatment of Australian citizens, including Julian Assange. In 2010 Bob Carr called Assange "an under-educated egomania," in 2011 he sympathized with Assange for the Swedish allegations against him, and this year said Assange would be better off in an Australian court.


  • Christine Assange tweeted out a list of talking points to address MPs with, regarding her son's legal battles.


  • The UN Rapporteur on Torture called Bradley Manning's treatment at Quantico "cruel, inhuman, and degrading."





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Upcoming Dates & Events:

March 7: Protest for Assange at DFAT in Sydney, 5PM.

March 8: Daniel Ellsberg will speak at Princeton University at an event called "Secrets, Lies, and Leaks: From the Pentagon Papers to WikiLeaks."

March 13: Julian Assange to participate in online War on Drugs debate, 7PM GMT.

Mid-March: Julian Assange's TV Series to begin airing.

March 15: Bradley Manning's motion hearing, 10AM at Fort Meade.

March 17: "War on WikiLeaks" public forum at Bleeding Heart, Brisbane, 7PM. Speakers include Christine Assange and Scott Ludlam.

April 25: Kristinn Hrafnsson to speak at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak at Enterprise Information Management Congress 2012 in The Netherlands.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.