News

2012-03-15 #WikiLeaks News Update: #Manning's motion hearing; #BeatTheBlockade; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 468 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 464 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 662 days.



Bradley Manning News:

  • Bradley Manning's motion hearing began today. Here are some major developments:
    • The defense filed a motion to dismiss charges against Manning based on the government withholding important evidence
    • The prosecution did not receive some important emails related to the case because their spam filter blocked anything with the word "WikiLeaks"
    • The enemy Manning is accused of aiding has been identified as Al-Qaeda
    • It is possible that Manning will testify about being videotaped at Quantico
    • The hearing will continue at 10AM tomorrow, March 16
    • For in-depth coverage of the hearing see Kevin Gosztola's live-blog and Alexa O'Brien's transcript


2012-03-15 Denver Nicks about his upcoming #Manning book, entitled Private, with undisclosed chat logs.

I recently spoke with journalist and author, Denver Nicks, about his upcoming book, Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History. Nicks says that he has an agreement with one of his sources to publish the book after the verdict, and that it contains previously undisclosed chat logs. You can find Denver Nicks on Twitter @DenverNicks

2012-03-12 #WikiLeaks News Update: MP speaks out for #Assange; UN condemns #Manning's treatment; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 465 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 462 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 659 days.



WikiLeaks News:

  • Australian MP Jamie Parker gave a speech to the Parliament of New South Wales about WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Bradley Manning, calling on new Foreign Minister Bob Carr to reject the Australian Government's position and be an advocate for Assange.


  • Der Spiegel journalist Holger Stark addressed MasterCard about their continued financial blockade against WikiLeaks, to which their spokesman replied, "Our position didn't change. I'm not able to give further explanations. […] There will be no explanation."


2012-03-10 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles coverage; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 462 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 459 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 656 days.



WikiLeaks News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • WikiLeaks continues to release more G.I. Files daily. Here is the latest coverage:
    • Undercover NATO troops are already in Syria despite denials from their parent governments
    • Corrupt Venezuelan officials are stifling local production in favor of imports
    • Russia tried to prevent Polish President Kaczynski from landing in Smolensk to force him to miss a Katyn massacre memorial service
    • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez betrayed the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to appease generals
  • An Op-Ed in Al Jazeera looks at the rise of Stratfor and their actual functionality.

2012-03-07 Press Release for Motion Hearing at Fort Meade, March 15, US vs PFC Bradley #Manning

Below is a March 1, 2012 United States Department of Defense Press Release for an upcoming Motion Hearing in the legal proceedings for U.S. Government vs. PFC Bradley Manning:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

NEWS RELEASE

The U.S. Army Military District of Washington
Guardians of the Nation’s Capital

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE#12-06
DATE: March 1, 2012

U.S. GOVERNMENT VS. PFC BRADLEY MANNING MOTION HEARING SCHEDULED

FORT LESLEY J. MCNAIR, D.C. – The military judge has scheduled a motion hearing in the case of United States vs. Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, beginning on Thursday, March 15 at 10 a.m., at Fort George G. Meade, Md.

Pfc. Manning is charged with aiding the enemy; wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet knowing that it is accessible to the enemy; theft of public property or records; transmitting defense information; fraud and related activity in connection with computers; and for violating Army Regulations 25-2 “Information Assurance” and 380-5 “Department of the Army Information Security Program.”

If convicted of all charges, Manning would face a maximum punishment of reduction to the lowest enlisted pay grade, E-1; total forfeiture of all pay and allowances; confinement for life; and a dishonorable discharge.

Media queries and information on credentialing for the arraignment may be emailed to the U.S. Army Military District of Washington Public Affairs Office at mediadesk@jfhqncr.northcom.mil.

-30-

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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

2012-03-03 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles coverage; Bradley #Manning updates; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 455 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 452 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 649 days.



WikiLeaks News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • The G.I. Files have been dominating the headlines. Here are some highlights:
    • Coca-Cola contracted Stratfor to spy on PETA
    • Stratfor monitored Bhopal activists, including The Yes Men
    • Osama bin Laden was in routine contact with Pakistan's spy agency
    • Stratfor discovered Israel already destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities
    • A Homeland Security

2012-02-29 Global Intelligence Gate: From Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to the Stratfor Corporation

Authored By: Nikolas Kozloff

I have always been a bit skeptical about some of the more salacious claims made in John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, the story of one man’s life working for the secretive National Security Agency or NSA. When he was a young man, NSA interrogators interviewed Perkins and explored his “frustration about the lack of women, sex, and money.” Perkins’ fit the NSA’s psychological profile, and after being accepted into the organization’s shadowy ranks, he landed a corporate job working as an economist with a major consulting firm. It was all a cover, however, for Perkins’ real purpose: as a self-described “economic hit man,” the youth was dispatched to poor Latin American countries such as Panama and Ecuador where he was tasked with cheating governments out of money and funneling cash from the coffers of the World Bank into the hands of major corporations and wealthy elites.

No doubt, U.S. intelligence agencies partake in such activities all the time, yet some of Perkins’ stories strained my credibility. For example, the author discusses a mysterious woman “consultant” at his firm named Claudine who came to be the young man’s teacher. “My assignment is to mold you into an economic hit man,” she tells Perkins. “No one can know about your involvement --- not even your wife.”

Later, Perkins remarks of Claudine, “Beautiful and intelligent, she was highly effective; she understood my weaknesses and used them to her greatest advantage.” “Her approach,” Perkins wrote, was a “combination of physical seduction and verbal manipulation.” The author adds, “My time with Claudine already represented the realization of one of my fantasies; it seemed too good to be true.”

From Claudine to Stratfor’s Modest Analyst

2012-02-27 African Spring continues in Senegal

When Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade was booed by hundreds of voters as he cast his ballot Sunday in an election the controversial incumbent hopes will elect him to serve a third term in office, it capped more than a month of popular protests by opposition candidates and their supporters against what many have called a "constitutional coup" by supporters of the corrupt regime.

2012-02-26 #WikiLeaks News Update: #GIFiles & More




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 450 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 447 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 644 days.



News:


Image from WikiLeaks

  • WikiLeaks, partnered with over 25 media organizations, began the release of "The Global Intelligence Files," a collection of over 5 million emails from the Texas-based intelligence company Stratfor. So far 167 files have been released. Here are some ways to follow the releases:

2012-02-27 WL press release: The Global Intelligence Files [UPDATE 2]

On the 27th of February 2012, Wikileaks released the following statement:

"LONDON—Today, Monday 27 February, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example:

"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase" – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.

2012-02-24 #WikiLeaks News Update: #Manning's arraignment; Financial Blockade; Cablegate Coverage; More




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 448 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 445 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 642 days.



News:

  • Bradley Manning had his arraignment on February 23, which lasted 45 minutes. Some key developments are as follows:
    • Bradley deferred both his plea as well as his decision to be tried by judge or panel.
    • The prosecution requested a trial date of August 3rd, which would have Bradley at over 800 days of pre-trial confinement.
    • The next court session is scheduled for March 15.
    • For in-depth coverage of the arraignment, see Alexa O'Brien's transcript and Kevin Gosztola's live-blog.
      (Links for further coverage available at the end of this update.)


2012-02-23 Transcript of Bradley Manning's Arraignment at Fort Meade, MD 1 p.m. February 23, 2012

This transcript was taken by hand at Bradley Manning's arraignment on February 23, 2012 at 1:00 p.m., Fort Meade, MD.

Please send corrections to carwinb@hushmail.com.

Bradley Manning's arraignment was held in same court room as his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. You can read transcripts from the first three days of that proceeding.

The courtroom for Bradley Manning's arraignment is lit dramatically with incandescent parabolic reflectors, and not fluorescent lights as was his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing.

Military personnel are dressed in full armed service uniforms. They had worn camos during the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing.

Many of the same individuals from the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing, like Lt. Hughes, are guarding the arraignment proceeding.

I went as a member of the public, even though WL Central was considered a credential media organization by the Pentagon "for this hearing." I did so, because I wanted to be in the courtroom.

Image

Captain John Haberland, a spokesman for the Military District of Washington (MDW), sat behind me taking notes and coughing. He had also been at the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. (I would have brought a hearing aid, but, alas, they don't allow electronic devices in courtroom.)

Military judge Col. Denise R. Lind is presiding. She is middle aged, with blondish coiffed hair, spectacles, and a long black robe.

Prosecution is Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow and Captain Angel Overgaard.

Defense is Mr. David Coombs, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard.

2012-02-22 #WikiLeaks News Update: Insurance File, Expressen, Bill Keller, & more




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 445 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 442 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 640 days.



News:

  • WikiLeaks has released a torrent for its insurance file, which is 64.3 GB.

    • Swedish tabloid Expressen published an article which said WikiLeaks is planning a "massive smear campaign" against Sweden and its Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. They say they received an "internal WikiLeaks memo" which discusses cables that reveal Bildt as a US informer. WikiLeaks tweeted multiple responses to the article including:

2012-02-18 #WikiLeaks News Update: #OccupyUNESCO, #WLAD, #Cablegate Coverage & More




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 442 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 439 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 636 days.



News:

  • UNESCO held a 2-day conference entitled, “The Media World after WikiLeaks and News of the World.” It sparked controversy after WikiLeaks issued a press statement denouncing UNESCO for blocking all speakers from WikiLeaks. There is a live-blog and chirpstory of the first day, as well as a chirpstory covering the full conference and events leading up to it.


2012-02-19 Don't Shoot the Messenger: Wikileaks Assange & Democracy Feb 17, Sydney #wlad

The Wikileaks Assange and Democracy Public Forum held at the University of Technology, Sydney on Friday February 17 attracted over 400 people who packed the aisles and spilled out into the corridors.

Chaired by Australian journalist and broadcaster Mary Kostakidis, speakers at the forum included socialist historian Humphrey McQueen, Greens Senator Scott Ludlum, London-based human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson and Christine Assange, the mother of Julian Assange.

On February 18 Simon Butler of Green Left Weekly reported on the Forum:

"Veteran journalist and former SBS broadcaster Mary Kostakidis chaired the meeting. She told the audience WikiLeaks had won several prestigious awards for excellence in journalism. She said the US government is persecuting WikiLeaks for publishing material that other media outlets have also published. The difference was that WikiLeaks has done it better, she said.

McQueen gave historical examples of how ruling elites have always tried to restrict the public’s access to information, lest they learn enough to want to challenge the social order. He said WikiLeaks’ revelations are dangerous to elite interests because they help educate people about the real nature of society.

Photo: Peter Boyle

Photo: Peter Boyle

Ludlum said he was pleased with the big turnout and denounced the Labor government’s attacks on WikiLeaks and Assange. He urged WikiLeaks supporters to put the pressure on the government to choose democracy and freedom of speech over the US-Australia alliance.

2012-02-17 Investigation into Polish CIA prison moved to different jurisdiction

The investigation, which had been active since 2008, has been moved from Warsaw to Krakow, several Polish news outlets report. According to Piotr Kosmaty, the spokesperson of the Prokuratura Apelacyjna Krakow, the case files have already arrived. He declined to comment on the reasons behind the transfer.

This is not the first unexpected development in this investigation. Earlier last year, Warsaw prosecutor Jerzy Mierzewski was removed from the case, after it emerged that he had planned to file charges. His case files were subsequently obtained by daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. In turn, Gdansk prosecutors opened an investigation into this leak.

Gazeta Wyborcza state that Mierzewski had evidence proving the existence of an extraterritorial US area in breach of the Polish constitution and of international law; moreover it proved that those kept in this area qualified as victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

See this link for our previous coverage.

2012-02-13 Athens burns: has #Greece entered its Argentina moment?

Image
(Photo by Real Democracy GR – MultiMedia Team )

Greece’s political establishment trembles as banks and government offices burn amid violent anti-austerity riots. Has the country finally reached a tipping point?

Exactly ten years ago, the crisis-ridden country of Argentina spiraled into a bout of social unrest that would eventually lead to the largest sovereign default in history. After three years of being forced to swallow the bitter pill of IMF-imposed austerity, a tipping point was finally reached: foreign creditors and neoliberal governments had pushed the people too far. They rose up in defiance and ousted five successive Presidents in the space of just three weeks.

With the incredible images of flame-engulfed buildings and policemen emerging out of Athens, it now looks like Greece may be headed down the same path. The country has become ungovernable. Even though a majority of traitors was found to pass yet another deeply unpopular austerity package through Parliament, this weekend’s violent protests indicate that the ‘Argentina moment’ may have arrived. The Greek people simply can’t take any more austerity.

2012-02-03 The Assange Extradition Hearing: Day 2

ImageDuring the second and final day of the U.K. Supreme Court's hearings on Julian Assange's extradition, Matrix Chambers attorney Clare Montgomery offered her rebuttal to arguments made yesterday by Assange's counsel. (Dinah Rose is representing Assange in his fight against extradition to Sweden for questioning on sex crime allegations.)

The week's proceedings have highlighted disparities of law among EU countries and the legal challenges involved in reconciling these conflicts. Assange's case may test the extent to which EU nations can maintain their legal autonomy under the rubric of a unified European system. It may also raise the question: to what degree will EU states have to harmonize their conflicting legal regimes in order to avoid this sort of continued legal wrangling in the future?

Montgomery presented Sweden's case against Assange for about four hours, during which time she appeared to reject EU-wide legal standardization -- essentially arguing that respecting state sovereignty requires preserving the status quo. If it agreed with Montgomery's position, the Court would have to accept significant differences among EU nations in implementing EU-wide legal standards. By contrast, Assange's legal team largely took the position that, while allowing for some variation and inconsistency, the Court should mandate certain universal principles in the extradition process, because of the seriousness of the potential risk that extradition may pose to individual rights.

2012-02-01 The Assange Extradition Hearing: Day 1

ImageAt Day 1 of the Julian Assange extradition hearing

On the night before the hearing began, one dedicated Assange supporter in London told me that she planned to arrive at Court by 6 a.m., ahead of the throngs that she expected based on the turnout at Assange's hearing last November. No doubt the freezing February temperatures kept large crowds at home this morning; instead of the masses anticipated, there were only a few orderly lines segregated into cameramen, sign-wielding protesters, and the courtroom audience -- a mix of media representatives, Assange faithfuls, and the curious. I was in the latter line, which was also peppered with a few Occupy London luminaries. During the next hour of collective shivering, I met journalists from all over Europe and the U.S., who now braved frigid weather to witness this historic proceeding. Arriving at around 8:30, one hour before the Court opened to the public, I witnessed the expectant crowd devolve into a chorus of complaints as the early-morning, late-winter wind chill robbed our fingers of almost all feeling.

But, mercifully, 9:30 at last arrived -- as did Assange, soon after. The white-haired WikiLeaks founder offered a spirited hello to the crowd and preceded us into the Court.

At the entry, Court staff had handed out a media briefing, which included the following details:
"Issue: Whether a European Arrest Warrant ('EAW') issued by a public prosecutor is a valid Part I EAW issued by a 'judicial authority' for the purpose and within the meaning of sections 2 and 66 of the Extradition Act 2003.

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