2012-07-01 WikiLeaks News Update: WikiLeaks releases fundraising CD; U.S. admits ongoing investigation

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 575 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 572 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 769 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 655 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• The U.S. Department of Justice admitted to AFP that there is an ongoing investigation into WikiLeaks.

• WikiLeaks released a downloadable CD, "Beat the Blockade", as a way of raising funds for the organisation. The CD is a collection of songs from supporters. It costs $11.99, or $24.99 for those who wish to offer an extra donation. All proceeds go to WikiLeaks and the Bradley Manning Defence Fund.

• Friends of WikiLeaks has reached critical mass and the encrypted "auto social network" engine is creating the graph now.

• A $1.2 billion jump in U.S. secrecy spending last year is likely in response to the major WikiLeaks disclosures of 2010.

• Jacob Appelbaum is calling on people to request anything they can under the Freedom of Information Act regarding the "WikiLeaks Persons At Risk Taskforce" and disclose the results. The Twitter hashtag for WikiLeaks-related FOIA information is #WLFOIA.

• Partick Cockburn at The Independent wrote an op-ed about the accomplishments of WikiLeaks and how media has tried to downplay its importance through attacking Julian Assange.

• Due to the fact that OpenLeaks has not updated their website since 2011, their Wikipedia article has been deleted and merged with that of Daniel Domscheit-berg.

• A new Twitter account, @OzWLNews, has been created to cover Australia-related WikiLeaks news.

Julian Assange News:

• Julian Assange's 41st birthday is on July 3. We at WL Central have been collecting people's greetings via Twitter hashtag #JA41 and email ja41[at]wlcentral[dot]org. There is still time to get your birthday greeting in!

• Julian Assange remains under the protection of the Ecuadorian Government at the Embassy in London while he awaits a decision on his application for political asylum. He was requested to surrender at the Metropolitan Police Station on June 29, but remained at the Embassy, explaining in a statement that "under both international and domestic UK law asylum assessments take priority over extradition claims ". Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, in his most recent statements, said they are currently "analyzing the case with full responsibility and, as we have said a thousand times, we have no deadline to make a decision". For in-depth and continued coverage of Mr Assange's asylum bid, see our live-blog.

• The final episode of The World Tomorrow will feature former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and current Leader of the Opposition, Anwar Ibrahim. The episode airs Tuesday, July 3, at 12:30PM BST on RT.

• Oscar Swartz, author of "A Brief History of Swedish Sex", has been writing a series of blog posts entitled "Assange, Ecuador, Rape, and Sweden". Read parts one, two, and three at his blog.

• Melbourne held a huge rally in support of Julian Assange with many speakers and a special live performance from Rap News. A collection of photos from the event is available.

• iMediaEthics did an in-depth analysis of eight corrections that McClatchy made regarding the fact that Julian Assange has not been charged with any crime.

Bradley Manning News:

• The Bradley Manning Support Network published detailed notes from Bradley's June 25 motion hearing.

• Queer Friends of Bradley Manning will be marching at World Pride in London, July 7.

• The Bradley Manning Support Network has information on how to join in support for Bradley's next hearings, July 16-20.

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

Upcoming Dates & Events:

July 1: Rally for Julian Assange at the Swedish Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, 3PM.

July 3: Julian Assange's 41st birthday.

July 3: The World Tomorrow's 12th and final episode airs, featuring Anwar Ibrahim.

July 7: Queer Friends of Bradley Manning will be marching at World Pride in London.

July 14: Global for Julian Assange Day.

July 16 - 20: Bradley Manning pre-trial hearings.

August 27 - 31: Bradley Manning pre-trial hearings.

September 19 - 20: Bradley Manning pre-trial hearings.

November 2012 ~ January 2013: Estimated time frame for Bradley Manning's court martial.