2012-04-19 #WikiLeaks News Update: "The World Tomorrow" premiere; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 502 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 499 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 696 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 582 days.

WikiLeaks News:

  • WikiLeaks published a press release for the 500th day of the unlawful banking blockade against them. Many individuals and organizations support WikiLeaks and are fighting for their right to spend.
  • Cabledrum has released the GIFiles Top 20, a list of the Stratfor emails which have received the most media attention. The list includes backgrounds and summaries of the emails, as well as links to related articles.
  • WikiLeaks cables from the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines show that Chinese investment scandals in the Arroyo administration affected the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.


Julian Assange News:

World Tomorrow banner

  • The first episode of "The World Tomorrow" premiered on RT, in which Julian Assange interviewed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Some of the major topics they discussed were the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the Syrian uprising. Read RT's summary of the episode, or watch the full episode below. Full transcript is also available.
  • As Julian Assange predicted, "The World Tomorrow" premiere was followed by tons of media coverage, including many attacks. Salon's Glenn Greenwald wrote an article covering the media storm, and RT reported on it as well. Some examples of blatant attacks are The Guardian ("Julian Assange proves a useful idiot"), New York Times ("practically speaking, Mr. Assange is in bed with the Kremlin"), and SvD, where the reviewer admits he didn't even listen to the show, as he forgot his headphones. If you're looking for a good, in-depth review, check out Kevin Gosztola's write-up over at Firedoglake.
  • In response to the predictable attacks after "The World Tomorrow" premiered, WikiLeaks released a humorous list of pre-written smears for journalists to use. Some examples are:

    #3.2
    Assange blinks too much – this shows that he is not only nervous and weird, but also lying!
    #5.3
    Assange is a criminal, not a professional. He is trying to distract attention away from his court case by embarking on elaborate television misadventures!
    #5.16
    Assange asks softball questions. He should give those bad people a harder time!

  • An article by Bernard Keane at Crikey looks at how the Australian government dodged and delayed FOI requests about Julian Assange, before completely blocking the release of related material.
  • Christine Assange was on ABC Radio Australia to discuss Attorney-Genereal Nicola Roxon's recent comments about WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Full audio of the interview is available as well as transcript. Also see our write-up of the interview.


Bradley Manning News:

  • The US Air Force is recruiting high school students for cyber security jobs, which involves a "Bradley Manning simulation" where "students were expected to search a mannequin for small hidden storage devices that might contain classified data."
  • The Bradley Manning Support Network is asking people to call Attorney General Eric Holder to protest solitary confinement, which Bradley faced eleven months
  • A supporter has created a video which asks, if you saw evidence of murder, torture, and lies, what would you do?



............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:

April 19-28: Performances of "The Radicalization of Bradley Manning" held between these dates in schools across Wales.

April 19: "WikiLeaks, Assange, and Defending Democracy" panel at BMW Edge in Melbourne, 6:30PM, with Christine Assange, Scott Ludlam, Lizzie O'Shea, Bernard Keane, and Greg Barns.

April 20: Julian Assange's 500th day of detainment without charge.

April 23: Bradley Manning's 700th day of imprisonment without trial.

April 24-26: Bradley Manning's next set of pre-trial hearings. Support events planned worldwide.

April 27-28: Kristinn Hrafnsson to speak at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy at panels "Whistleblowers and anonymous leaks: can the media do without them?" (27/4) and "Dossier WikiLeaks. Segreti italiani" (28/4).

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.