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  • Media Groups Voice Support for Julian Assange

    Media Groups Voice Support for Julian Assange

    Media groups have come out in favor of Julian Assange, urging the US to drop the charges against him.

    Twelve years ago Monday, a collection of media outlets published portions of the 250,000 secret documents Assange gained access to in his role as Director of WikiLeaks. Since then, Assange has been wanted by US authorities and spent years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK before Ecuador revoked his asylum in 2019. Assange was set to be extradited to the US, but his legal team is currently fighting extradition, leaving him in London’s Belmarsh prison.

    According to The Guardian, a group of media outlets are petitioning the US government to drop its charges against Assange. The group includes The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El País.

    Below is a copy of the letter in its entirety:

    Publishing is not a crime: The US government should end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets.

    Twelve years ago, on November 28th 2010, our five international media outlets – the New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, El País and Der Spiegel – published a series of revelations in cooperation with WikiLeaks that made the headlines around the globe.

    “Cablegate”, a set of 251,000 confidential cables from the US state department, disclosed corruption, diplomatic scandals and spy affairs on an international scale.

    In the words of the New York Times, the documents told “the unvarnished story of how the government makes its biggest decisions, the decisions that cost the country most heavily in lives and money”. Even now in 2022, journalists and historians continue to publish new revelations, using the unique trove of documents.

    For Julian Assange, publisher of WikLeaks, the publication of “Cablegate” and several other related leaks had the most severe consequences. On April 12th 2019, Assange was arrested in London on a US arrest warrant, and has now been held for three and a half years in a high-security British prison usually used for terrorists and members of organised crime groups. He faces extradition to the US and a sentence of up to 175 years in an American maximum-security prison.

    This group of editors and publishers, all of whom had worked with Assange, felt the need to publicly criticise his conduct in 2011 when unredacted copies of the cables were released, and some of us are concerned about the allegations in the indictment that he attempted to aid in computer intrusion of a classified database. But we come together now to express our grave concerns about the continued prosecution of Julian Assange for obtaining and publishing classified materials.

    The Obama-Biden administration, in office during the WikiLeaks publication in 2010, refrained from indicting Assange, explaining that they would have had to indict journalists from major news outlets too. Their position placed a premium on press freedom, despite its uncomfortable consequences. Under Donald Trump however, the position changed. The DoJ relied on an old law, the Espionage Act of 1917 (designed to prosecute potential spies during world war one), which has never been used to prosecute a publisher or broadcaster.

    This indictment sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s first amendment and the freedom of the press.

    Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists. If that work is criminalised, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.

    Twelve years after the publication of “Cablegate”, it is time for the US government to end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets.

    Publishing is not a crime.

    The editors and publishers of:

    The New York Times

    The Guardian

    Le Monde

    Der Spiegel

    El País

  • Chelsea Manning Can No Longer Be Referred To With Male Pronouns, Says Court Order

    Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, has won the right to “she” and “her”.

    In a court order issued on Wednesday, it was made adamantly clear that henceforth, Chelsea Manning must be referred to in female or gender-neutral terms.

    The court order stated, “All future formal papers filed before this court and all future orders and decisions issued by this court shall either be neutral, eg Private First Class Manning or appellant, or employ a feminine pronoun.”

    However, Chelsea Manning will remain “Bradley Manning”, or “he” and “him”, for the previous legal proceedings before his/her transition.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZixH7YBYso

    Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was involved in Manning’s defense, said, “The court rightly recognized that dignifying Chelsea’s womanhood is not the trivial matter that the government attempted to frame it as.”

    Chelsea Manning, who was convicted in 2013 of handing over more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, has already won the right to the name change, the hormone therapy for her transition, and even women’s underwear.

    “This is an important distinction for Chelsea, both personally and legally,” Chelsea Manning’s attorney, Nancy Hollander, told People. “But it’s most important on a personal level.”

    “You would not like being a called a man,” Hollander said to a female journalist. “And neither does she.”

    Despite all of her victories, Chelsea Manning hasn’t won the right to live in female quarters where she is imprisoned at Ft. Leavenworth, Hollander said. But it seems Chelsea Manning won’t fight that.

    Hollander said of Chelsea Manning, “She is housed with male prisoners, and will continue to be housed with them.”

    She added, “She has no problems with her fellow prisoners. She is doing well. As well as one can when in prison.”

    What do you think of Chelsea Manning’s unprecedented gender transition in military prison and her subsequent victories?

  • Chelsea Manning Must Be Referred to As ‘She’ by U.S. Military, Court Rules

    Chelsea Manning Must Be Referred to As ‘She’ by U.S. Military, Court Rules

    Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Marine soldier undergoing gender reassignment from male to female, must be referred to as “she” or the gender-neutral Private First Class Manning, according to a new court order.

    Chelsea Manning, who changed her masculine name from Bradley to Chelses in 2014, is currently serving a 35-year sentence in a Kansas prison for releasing classified documents to WikiLeaks.

    In January, the government banned Chelsea Manning from using female pronouns in filings.

    “Unless directed otherwise by this honourable court, the government intends to refer to [Manning] using masculine pronouns,” the government said last month.

    However, a new court order has ruled that Manning cannot be referred to as a “he.”

    “This is an important distinction for Chelsea, both personally and legally,” attorney Nancy Hollander told People. “But it’s most important on a personal level.

    “You would not like being a called a man,” Hollander said to a female journalist. “And neither does she.”

    Lawyers for Chelsea Manning have maintained that Manning’s gender dysphoria has been “trivialized and discounted by officials,” according to MSN, “barring the Oklahoma native from accessing the critical medical attention she needs.”

    The U.S. Military still bans transgender individuals from serving in the military.

    Nancy Hollander, Chelsea Manning’s legal adviser, the new ruling is “an important victory for Chelsea, who has been mistreated by the government for years.”

  • Chelsea Manning Will Receive Hormone Therapy Following Suit

    Chelsea Manning, the Wikileaks leaker formerly known as Bradley Manning, is finally getting the hormone treatments she’s been demanding for months.

    In September of last year Manning sued the US Department of Defense, claiming she had been “denied access to medically necessary treatment” in connection with a gender disorder.

    “She brings this action to compel defendants to treat her serious medical needs consistent with their obligation under the Constitution,” said the lawsuit. Manning’s lawyers claimed that lack of hormonal treatment would cause Manning to “suffer continued pain, depression and anxiety” and that she “is at an extremely high risk of self-castration and suicidality.”

    Manning and the ACLU said that the military was stalling.

    Now, after many months, they’ve caved. USA Today obtained the internal memo, which grants Manning the “medically appropriate and necessary” treatments.

    “After carefully considering the recommendation that (hormone treatment) is medically appropriate and necessary, and weighing all associated safety and security risks presented, I approve adding (hormone treatment) to Inmate Manning’s treatment plan,” wrote Col. Erica Nelson in the memo.

    The American Civil Liberties Union, who has represented Chelsea Manning, applauded the decision.

    “We are thrilled for Chelsea that the government has finally agreed to initiate hormone therapy as part of her treatment plan,” said Chase Strangio, an attorney with the ACLU. “This is an important first step in Chelsea’s treatment regimen and one that is in line with the recommendations of all of her doctors and the basic requirements of the Eighth Amendment.”

    Still, it’s not a total victory. According to Strangio, the officials at Leavenworth are still refusing to let Manning grow her hair out – a step in her transformation that he describes as “critical”.

    In August of 2013, Pvt. Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for supplying WikiLeaks with 700,000 classified documents in 2010. Manning was found guilty on charges under the Espionage Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the code of military justice – but was spared the charge of “aiding the enemy”, the most serious of all the charges. If convicted of that crime, Manning could have faced up the 90 years behind bars.

    Shortly after sentencing, Manning revealed that she was transgender, suffering from “gender dysphoria” – a condition in which a person does not identify with the sex assigned at birth.

    It was recently announced that Chelsea Manning would soon begin writing columns on “war, gender, and freedom of information” for the US wing of The Guardian.

    Above: Army Image of Chelsea Manning, in 2012 when known as Bradley Manning

  • Chelsea Manning to Write Columns for The Guardian

    Chelsea Manning, the Wikileaks leaker formerly known as Bradley Manning who was recently sentenced to 35 years in prison, has joined The Guardian US as a contributor.

    The Guardian US’ editor-in-chief says that Manning will write on “war, gender, and freedom of information”.

    According to Politico, Manning will not be compensated.

    In August of 2013, Pvt. Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for supplying WikiLeaks with 700,000 classified documents in 2010. Manning was found guilty on charges under the Espionage Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the code of military justice – but was spared the charge of “aiding the enemy”, the most serious of all the charges. If convicted of that crime, Manning could have face up the 90 years behind bars.

    Shortly after her sentencing, Manning revealed that she was transgender, suffering from “gender dysphoria” – a condition in which a person does not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth.

    Manning recently sued the Department of Defense over allegedly stalled gender treatments.

  • WikiLeaks Blasts Google For Giving FBI Personal Data, Delaying Notification

    Google reportedly delayed by two and a half years disclosure to WikiLeaks that it gave emails and other data from three of its staff to the FBI. This occurred after a federal judge issued a warrant.

    Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is a lawyer for WikiLeaks, wrote a letter to Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, telling him they are “astonished and disturbed that Google waited over two and a half years to notify its subscribers that a search warrant was issued for their records.”

    Read the full letter here.

    The three WikiLeaks staffers are Investigations editor Sarah Harrison, Section Editor Joseph Farrell and senior journalist and spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson. The warrant was related to charges of alleged conspiracy and espionage.

    “Importantly, the warrants reveal for the first time a clear list of the alleged offences the US government is trying to apply in its attempts to build a prosecution against Julian Assange and other WikiLeaks staff. The offences add up to a total of 45 years of imprisonment,” WikiLeaks said in a press release. “The US government is claiming universal jurisdiction to apply the Espionage Act, general Conspiracy statute and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to journalists and publishers – a horrifying precedent for press freedoms around the world. Once an offence is alleged in relation to a journalist or their source, the whole media organisation, by the nature of its work flow, can be targeted as alleged ‘conspiracy’.”

    Here’s what it said specifically about Google:

    WikiLeaks’ legal team has written to Google expressing its dismay that Google failed to notify the warrants’ targets immediately. The failure to notify has prevented the three journalists from “protect[ing] their interests including their rights to privacy, association and freedom from illegal searches”. The “take everything” warrants are unconstitutionally broad and appear to violate the Privacy Protection Act so would have a good chance of being opposed; however, Google handed everything over before that was possible.

    Although Google claims that it was at some stage under a gag order from the US government, there is no indication that Google fought the gag and it is unlikely that the gag just happened to expire the day before Christmas. Similar gags for warrants against WikiLeaks journalists have been successfully fought by Twitter in much shorter time-frames.

    While WikiLeaks journalists, perhaps uniquely, do not use Google services for internal communications or for communicating with sources, the search warrants nonetheless represent a substantial invasion of their personal privacy and freedom. The information handed over to the US government included all email content, metadata, contacts, draft emails, deleted emails and IP addresses connected to the accounts. Google redacted the search warrants before sending them to WikiLeaks staff.

    The Guardian shares comment from Google:

    Google told the Guardian it does not talk about individual cases, to “help protect all our users”. A spokesperson for the company said: “We follow the law like any other company.

    “When we receive a subpoena or court order, we check to see if it meets both the letter and the spirit of the law before complying. And if it doesn’t we can object or ask that the request is narrowed. We have a track record of advocating on behalf of our users.”

    Assange said, “WikiLeaks has out endured everything the Obama administration has thrown at us and we will out endure these latest ‘offences’ too…’I call on president Obama to do the right thing and call off his dogs–for his own sake. President Obama is set to go down in history as the president who brought more bogus ‘espionage’ cases against the press than all previous presidents combined.”

    WikiLeaks also wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. This requests further details on the investigation.

    Image via Google

  • Chelsea Manning Sues US Gov’t Over Stalled Gender Treatments

    Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense. In it, the Wikileaks leaker claims that she has been “denied access to medically necessary treatment” in connection with a gender disorder.

    “She brings this action to compel defendants [Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the federal government] to treat her serious medical needs consistent with their obligation under the Constitution,” says the suit, according to CNN. If the requests are denied, said Manning’s lawyers, she “will suffer continued pain, depression and anxiety and is at an extremely high risk of self-castration and suicidality.”

    In August of 2013, Pvt. Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for supplying WikiLeaks with 700,000 classified documents in 2010. Manning was found guilty on charges under the Espionage Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the code of military justice – but was spared the charge of “aiding the enemy”, the most serious of all the charges. If convicted of that crime, Manning could have face up the 90 years behind bars.

    Shortly after her sentencing, Manning revealed that she was transgender, suffering from “gender dysphoria” – a condition in which a person does not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth. Soon, Manning began demanding treatment for the condition, including hormone therapy.

    In July of this year, Manning’s request to be transferred to a civilian prison to begin treatment was approved – but according to the new lawsuit things have stalled. Or better yet, people are stalling.

    “I have not yet seen their treatment plan, and in over eight months, I have not received any response as to whether the plan will be approved or disapproved, or whether it follows the guidelines of qualified health professionals,” says the lawsuit.

    Manning also wishes to be able to grow out her hair and modify her dress to better express her gender identity.

    The White House will reportedly address the lawsuit “in the coming weeks.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Chelsea Manning Looks To Transfer To Civilian Prison For Hormone Therapy

    Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, is serving a 35 year prison sentence at a military detention center for leaking classified military documents to Wikileaks. Shortly after she was sentenced, Chelsea revealed that she was transgender and would like everybody to address her by her new chosen name. She also requested that she receive hormone therapy while in prison – a request the military may finally oblige.

    Reuters reports that the military may transfer Manning to a civilian prison. As it currently stands, Manning can not receive the treatment she desires in a military prison as it’s not outfitted to address transgender needs. At a civilian prison, the options available to Manning are greatly expanded.

    So, why is Manning requesting hormone treatment in the first place? She currently has what medical professionals call “gender dysphoria” – a condition where one is not happy with the gender they born into. For those who have the condition, they can either seek hormonal therapy, psychotherapy or both. At a civilian prison, Manning would be able to receive both as she embraces the gender she always felt she should be.

    Of course, none of this is set in stone for now. In a statement released to the press, Rear Admiral John Kirby said the military is currently weighing its options:

    “No decision to transfer Private Manning to a civilian detention facility has been made, and any such decision will, of course, properly balance the soldier’s medical needs with our obligation to ensure Private Manning remains behind bars.”

    Understandably, the military is concerned that Manning may slip through the cracks if she transfers. Still, it would be inhumane to not give Manning the treatment she needs. In a world where transgender rights are still woefully ignored and belittled, the military can set a good example for the rest of the nation by treating Manning with respect and dignity in regards to her needs.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • George Clooney is Engaged to Amal Alamuddin

    Hollywood has been waiting for this day for a long, long time!

    George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin are engaged. What??

    Yep, PEOPLE reports that a source confirmed to the magazine that Clooney asked Alamuddin to be his wife.

    “George and Amal are trying to keep things very low-key but they also aren’t really trying to hide this, it doesn’t seem,” said the source. “I think it’s like they want the people they love to know that this is real, that they plan on being together forever.”

    According to the source, the engagement happened “not that long ago, I think.”

    Alamuddin, 36, was spotted with a huge ring on her left hand as she and Clooney, 52, dined at Nobu in Malibu on Thursday night with Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber, long-time friends of Clooney.

    Alamuddin is definitely a change from some of the women Clooney has dated in the past. Her resume is incredible – she studied at Oxford and the New York University School of Law, has represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in his extradition proceedings with Sweden, speaks three languages — French, Arabic and English — and is currently an adviser to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the special envoy to Syria.

    “He’s with someone who is a very accomplished attorney. She isn’t someone who is pursuing a career in acting or entertainment. She’s on his level,” said a source close to the Gravity actor.

    Clooney and Alamuddin were first photographed together in London in October. The two have since been spotted embarking on several romantic, globe-trotting get-aways.

    Image via YouTube

  • Chelsea Manning: Lawyer To Appeal 35 Year Sentence

    Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was sentenced in August to 35 years in prison for releasing 700,000 classified government documents to WikiLeaks in 2010.

    Now Manning’s lawyer plans to appeal the 35-year prison sentence. Albuquerque, New Mexico attorney Nancy Hollander and her law partner Vincent Ward were recently retained by Manning to represent her in the next phase of her military court proceedings.

    A sentence of 2.5 years or less is normally given by U.S. courts to others who have given government secrets to the media. In a recent telephone interview Hollander said Manning’s 35-year sentence is out of proportion of the usual 2.5 years or less that is given.

    “It’s a very long sentence compared to other sentences for similar kinds of situations that I’m aware of, or even dissimilar situations like rape and murder,” said Hollander.

    At the trial, military prosecutors called Manning “an anarchist hacker and traitor who indiscriminately leaked information she had sworn to protect, knowing it would be seen by al-Qaida.”

    Supporters of the former intelligence analyst would disagree. They consider Manning a whistleblower who, while working in Iraq, revealed diplomatic hypocrisy and U.S. war crimes.

    While Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy – the most serious charge she faced – she was convicted of 20 crimes, including six violations of the Espionage Act.

    An appeal cannot be filed until trial findings have been finalized by Major General Jeffrey Buchanan, commander of the Military District of Washington, D.C.

    Hollander has yet to receive the trial transcript, so until then discussion of a legal strategy is premature. Though she did say, “I know the issues that I believe are some of the main issues that will come up…It’s the kind of work we do, and it’s a righteous case.” Hollander added that “big issues” involving freedom of information and why certain things are kept secret by the government will come up in the appeals case.

    Having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, Manning declared after sentencing the desire to live as a woman.

    Manning is currently serving her 35-year sentence at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas.

    Images via YouTube.

  • TPP Chapter published by WikiLeaks

    WikiLeaks is at it again, publishing secret political documents of largest-ever economic treaty. A controversial chapter of the Trans-pacific partnership negotiations between twelve countries: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Chile and Peru.

    Nobody is sure of who “leaked” it to undermine the secrecy of this draft, but six hundred corporate advisors have had access to the draft. The public has been deprived from the public because of the agreements nature, and considering its negotiations have been going on since 2008. The information contained could effect American corporations and those in other country’s economies.

    Now that WikiLeaks has published the copy of the agreement, its possible countries involved may have repercussions, including Australians possibly paying more for drugs and medicines, media: (movies, computer games and software), and be placed under surveillance as part of a crackdown, led by US, on internet piracy.

    The leaked chapter of the trade agreement reveals Australia’s position on copyright, patents and other property issues, with a heavy focus on enforcement for, or lack of, internet piracy. It contains information to aid the multinational movie and music industries, to maintain and increase prices, which are both large American exports, and similarly the same information that may hinder software giants and pharmaceutical manufactures.

    All negotiations have been behind closed doors, and even parts of the document American congress hasn’t even read. The parts Congress has had available to read, they were under supervision.

    “The US administration is aggressively pushing the TPP through the US legislative process on the sly,” says Julian Assange, the founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks.

    “If instituted,” Assange continues, “the TPP’s intellectual property regime would trample over individual rights and free expression… If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”

    Feel free to read the the 95-page, 30,000-word chapter, on WikiLeaks.

    Image (via) WikiLeaks.

  • Weekend Box Office: The Fifth Estate Fails Miserably

    Nothing changed this past weekend, in regards to the top two spots as Gravity and Captain Phillips both held onto their first and second position.

    Probably the biggest shock / surprise of the weekend was the 8th place finish for the Wikileaks movie, The Fifth Estate. To put this into perspective for you, it debuted with a per-screen average nearly equal to Prisoners, a film in its FIFTH week of release. Another interesting nugget is that Machete Kills has already fallen off, just a week after its release.

    You can peruse the weekend box office numbers below:

    1.) Gravity – $31 M
    2.) Captain Phillips – $17.3 M
    3.) Carrie – $17 M
    4.) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 – $10.1 M
    5.) Escape Plan – $9.8 M
    6.) Prisoners – $2 M
    7.) Enough Said – $1.8 M
    8.) The Fifth Estate – $1.7 M
    9.) Runner Runner – $1.6 M
    10.) Insidious: Chapter 2 – $1.5 M

    This coming weekend we get Ridley Scott and writer Cormac McCarthy’s all-star thriller “The Counselor” as well as “Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa”.

    Are you planning on seeing one of the new releases this coming weekend? Let us know in the comment area below.

    (Lead image via Screen Robot)

  • Julian Assange Discusses Life in Exile

    Julian Assange has once again gained international attention. This time, however, it has less to do with his leaking-abilities and more to do with his cinematic critiquing.

    The Fifth Estate, a movie about the Wikileaks phenomenon and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, has received harsh criticism from Assange. The Wikileaks founder has stated that the film is a “massive propaganda attack,’ and personally accosted Cumberbatch for agreeing to play the role.

    Unfortunately, Assange was not able to accost Cumberbatch face-to-face. Assange is still currently living under asylum at the embassy in Ecuador. Assange has been living in the embassy since 2012. The initial charges which sent Assange underground were those concerning a European Arrest Warrant for questioning in a sexual assault case. The British government wants Assange to be extradited to Sweden to answer the charges, but Assange refuses due to fears that he will then be sent to the US to face charges against him for information leaking. Because Ecuador has no laws in the books concerning the release of information to the masses, Assange was granted asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy.

    In a recent Skype interview with the Daily Telegraph, Assange discusses his everyday life in the embassy. Since Assange was granted asylum, police have been waiting outside to arrest him if he dare step foot outside. Therefore, Assange has lived every moment of his life for over 1 year in his small office/living space in the embassy: “Of course it’s difficult to wake up for 500 days and see the same walls but on the other hand I am doing good work and I have no time for anything else so it’s a bit counter-productive to trap me here, because what else can I do but work?”

    Assange works in a small, converted office space. The room has a bed, telephone, sun lamp, computer, shower, treadmill, and a small kitchenette. While he is not allowed to leave the embassy due to fear of being arrested, Assange can still receive visitors. The Wikileaks founder has entertained such celebrities as Graham Nash, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, John Cusack, and the rapper MIA. When not entertaining visitors, Assange passes his time by watching TV shows and movies, such as Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.

    The most recent project to receive Assange’s attention has been raising awareness of the inherent ability of the US to spy on Latin Americans. In an interview with Russia’s RT television, Assange stated, “Ninety-eight percent of Latin American telecommunications to the rest of the world – that means SMS, phone, email etc. – passes through the U.S.”

    Assange added that “U.S. intelligence agencies ‘can easily intercept these communications … and therefore gain understanding of how Latin America is behaving, where it is moving, its economic transfers, the activities of its leaders and major players. That permits the U.S. to predict in some ways the behavior of Latin American leaders and interests, and it also permits them to blackmail. Nearly every significant person in Latin America is blackmailable by the U.S.”

    This news from Assange is not terribly surprising. Recent reports suggested that the NSA was spying on the communications of the presidents of both Mexico and Brazil, prompting the president of Brazil to cancel her trip to the United States. Latin America has responded by proposing “the creation of a communications system to curtail U.S. spying in the region” to the Union of South American Nations.

    In an interview with Reuters, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Richard Patino, stated “We have decided to begin to work on new Internet communication systems of our countries, of our societies, to avoid continuing being the object and prey of illegal spying that U.S. spying entities have developed against us.”

    Latin America has been the victim of US intervention for multiple decades now. However, a new sense of pride and a burgeoning economy has Latin America seeking greater sovereignty from the United States, a move which the US needs to desperately avoid due to the important trade relations amongst the countries.

    Image via YouTube

  • Wikileaks Leaks Script for ‘Fifth Estate’

    With a tweet, a leak:

    Nearly six days ago, WikiLeaks released what they claimed was a “mature version” of the script for the upcoming Dreamworks film The Fifth Estate, “obtained at a late stage during the principal photography.” They also claim that it compares with the final version of the film as it premiered in Toronto on September 5.

    So, WikiLeaks leaked something else, and the world keeps turning. Where’s the controversy? It goes back to WikiLeaks head guru Julian Assange, who The Guardian reported exchanged a series of emails with actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Assange.

    According to Cumberbatch, Assange sent him “a very considered, thorough, charming and intelligent account of why he thought this was morally wrong for me to be part of something he thought was going to be damaging in real terms – not just to perceptions but to the reality of the outcome for himself.” The WikiLeaks founder also called the film a “massive propaganda attack” on him and his organization.

    Cumberbatch’s reply to Assange said something along the lines of, “Listen, this film is going to explore what you achieved, what brought you to the world’s attention, in a way that I think is nothing but positive. I admit to doing work because I’m a vain actor … yet I’m not acting in a moral vacuum. I have considered this, and whatever happens I want to give as much complexity and understanding of you as I can.”

    The WikiLeaks post included not only the complete script, but an extensive memo detailing problems the film has with handling events, from allegations regarding harm caused by WikiLeaks to the effects the film may have on global perceptions of the organization: “There are very high stakes involved in how WikiLeaks is perceived. This film does not occur in a historical vacuum, but appears in the context of ongoing efforts to bring a criminal prosecution against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange for exposing the activities of the Pentagon and the US State Department. The film also occurs in the context of Pvt. Manning’s upcoming appeal and request for a presidential pardon.”

    The memo went on to recommend that readers not treat the film as an accurate historical account of the WikiLeaks organization or the people who participate in it; it also suggested that the film was one-sided and told its tale with a political agenda that involved portraying Assange as a “cartoon baddie” and an “antisocial megalomaniac.”

    If you’re interested in checking it out for yourself, the WikiLeak is here.

    [Image via Wikileaks.org]

  • Leavenworth Prison May Be Bradley Manning’s New Home

    Earlier today we brought you news that Bradley Manning, the Army private convicted of providing over 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, had been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Now it appears that we know which prison he’ll be going to. Manning’s lawyer told reporters in the courtroom today that his client would be headed to Leavenworth Prison in Kansas.

    The military prison, which most people know by its Hollywood reputation, is situated on the grounds of the old Fort Leavenworth. The fort was built in 1827 as a fairly typical frontier Army fort. Nearly fifty years later, in 1875, it was chosen to be the site of a military prison housing 300 inmates. In 1895 the War Department handed control of the prison over to the Department of Justice. Today the site is home to three separate prisons, all for male inmates only: a civilian prison, the United States Disciplinary Barracks, and the Midwest Joint Correctional Facility. The latter two are both U.S. military prisons. The USDB is a maximum security prison, while the MJCF is a medium security facility. It is not yet clear which of the two facilities will house Private Manning as he serves his sentence.

    Both the military and civilian facilities at Leavenworth have played host to quite a few notable prisoners, both civilians and military personnel. German POWs were held there during World War 2 and Mennonite conscientious objectors where housed there during World War 1. Irish mob boss Whitey Bulger did a year at Leavenworth as part of a 9-year sentence for burglary in the ’60s. Robert Stroud, better known as the Bird Man of Alcatraz, was at Leavenworth for 30 years before being transferred to Alcatraz, and it was in his cell at Leavenworth that he began keeping and studying the birds that spawned his nickname. James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 did a three-year stint at Leavenworth from 1955 to 1958 for forgery. NFL quarterback Michael Vick served 23 months for running a dog fighting ring before being released in 2009.

    And now Bradley Manning will begin what could be a 35-year stint at the prison. What’s more, there’s a good chance that Manning will be joined soon by Nidal Hassan, who is currently standing trial for murdering 13 people and wounding 30 in a 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood.

    There is some hope for Manning, however. As noted in our report this morning, there’s a good chance that he will not serve the entirety of his 35-year sentence. He will be credited with time served plus 112 days, which accounts for nearly four of his 35 years. Additionally he will be eligible for parole in as few as eight or nine years.

  • Lady Gaga Tweets About Manning’s Sentence

    Lady Gaga Tweets About Manning’s Sentence

    Facebook and Twitter are blowing up with varying comments on the recent sentencing  of U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning. And it’s become evident that the buzz isn’t dying within the celebrity circle either.

    During a recent MTV Video Music Awards prep, pop sensation, Lady Gaga tweeted out a very unhappy text in regards to the sentencing of Manning.

     

    Manning was sentenced to life in prison along with another 21 additional charges. sharing more than 700,000 government files to the website Wikileaks nearly three years ago.

    Apparently it’s not only Lady that’s going “Gaga” over the recent sentencing of Manning. Big time musicians from Roger Waters to Moby are even involved in a brand new campaign backing Manning called “I am Bradley Mannning.”

    The Campaign which has joined forces with dozens of celebrities and public figures has created a video that simply asks the audience what they would do if they were in Manning’s situation, holding signs that say, “I am Bradley Manning.” Even Pentagon Papers Leaker, Daniel Ellsberg has a small cameo saying, “I was Bradley Manning.”

    The video traces along the details of Manning’s trial as well as word-by-word retellings of what he leaked that now has him now behind bars.

    While the campaign video hasn’t exactly gone viral, Gaga’s original tweet has certainly done well with 4,620 retweets and a whopping 3,065 people marking it as a favorite.

    Gaga’s known for the dramatic flair so perhaps she’ll make a statement about the Manning sentencing at her opening performance of the 2013 MTV Music Video Awards this Sunday? Stay tuned.

    Watch the “I am Bradley Manning”

  • Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy

    Bradley Manning, the young Army private that’s a whistleblower to some and a traitor to others, has been in a military court the past few months as the government argued that his sharing of classified government documents with WikiLeaks aided Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Now the judge in the case has finally issued a verdict.

    RT reports that Colonel Denise Lind issued a not guilty verdict for charges of aiding the enemy. If he had been found guilty, that particular charge alone would have carried a sentence of life in prison. He was also found not guilty of violating the espionage act for the release of the “Collateral Murder” video that shows U.S. soldiers killing unarmed Iraqis and two Reuters journalists.

    Despite being found not guilty for the above two charges, he still faces up to 136 years in prison after being found guilty for 19 other charges. Those charges include numerous counts of violating the Espionage Act, theft and embezzlement.

    So, where do we go from here? Well, sentencing will begin tomorrow morning as witnesses are gathered to recommend potential sentences. He could face the maximum 136 years in prison, but it’s unlikely. The fact of the matter is that Manning will be sentenced to a number of years in a military prison, but it’s unknown at this moment how harsh his sentence will be.

    As expected, WikiLeaks issued a pretty strong response to the verdict via Twitter. The site said that the verdict negatively affects the free press:

    Other groups that were firmly in the pro-Manning camp issued similar statements today. The ACLU says that this case made it clear that the U.S. government is attempting to intimidate whistleblowers.

    “While we’re relieved that Mr. Manning was acquitted of the most dangerous charge, the ACLU has long held the view that leaks to the press in the public interest should not be prosecuted under the Espionage Act,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “Since he already pleaded guilty to charges of leaking information – which carry significant punishment – it seems clear that the government was seeking to intimidate anyone who might consider revealing valuable information in the future.”

    One chapter in the Manning saga may be over, but we still got a long road ahead of us. Sentencing could very well last through all of August so we still have to wait a bit to hear of Manning’s ultimate fate.

  • Edward Snowden: Venezuela Says the Door’s Open

    The presidents of Venezuela and Nicaragua have extended a hand to Edward Snowden. In the wake of the grounding of Bolivian president Evo Morales’s plane, on which Snowden was rumored to be aboard, Latin America has banded together to express support for the American fugitive and defiance against the countries that are assisting the US manhunt.

    Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro said, “as head of state, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American Edward Snowden” so that he can live without “persecution from the empire [the United States].”

    Maduro made this statement during a speech celebrating the anniversary of Venezuela’s independence. He did not specify what conditions Venezuela would attach to Snowden’s asylum.

    While this is the first semi-concrete offer of asylum, Maduro’s detractors have accused the president of grandstanding. Venezuela is undergoing severe economic strife, suffering one of the world’s highest rates of inflation and a shortage of many basic needs, including toilet paper.

    “The asylum doesn’t fix the economic disaster, the record inflation, an upcoming devaluation (of the currency), and the rising crime rate,” Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles tweeted.

    Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega has followed suit. When asked whether his country would also offer asylum, he replied that it would “if circumstances allow it.” “We have the sovereign right to help a person who felt remorse after finding out how the United States was using technology to spy on the whole world, and especially its European allies,” Ortega said.

    Nicaragua has acknowledged that it is evaluating an asylum request submitted through its Moscow embassy.

    Snowden, accused of leaking confidential US documents that have, among other things, revealed a massive spy program carried out by the NSA in Europe, is currently rumored to be living in a Moscow airport. To date, he has applied for asylum in 27 countries, though Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia are the only three to have suggested they would take him in.

  • Edward Snowden Releases First Statement Since Landing In Moscow

    Edward Snowden, the man behind the recent NSA spy program leaks, is the most wanted man in the world at the moment. The U.S. government is doing everything it can to bring him back while journalists are still scouring a Moscow airport looking for him. Nobody knows where or how he is, but he’s apparently well enough to release a statement via Wikileaks.

    Here’s the full text:

    One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

    On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

    This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

    For decades the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

    In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

    I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

    As the Huffington Post pointed out, Snowden’s statement is a little strange. There are a few times where European English is used instead of the American English that would expect from Snowden. Some are even suggesting that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange wrote the statement.

    Now, we don’t know if that’s the case or not, but we do know that the statement did go through Wikileaks. An editor could have changed some of the wording to match their writing style. We just don’t know, and we won’t know until Snowden decides to stop being the hide and seek world champion.

    In other Snowden news, Wikileaks’ Sarah Harrison is now delivering asylum requests on his behalf to embassies in Moscow. She’s attempting to get one of the following countries to grant Snowden’s asylum requests – Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.

    There have been no responses from any of these countries yet, but they have already pulled their asylum request from Russia after the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, said that Snowden could stay in Russia as long as he stops “his activities aimed at inflicting damage to our American partners.”

    If it isn’t obvious already, Snowden and his partners have no intention of stopping just yet. The Washington Post published another round of PRISM leaks over the weekend, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more surveillance leaks in the coming week as well.

  • Edward Snowden Is Now In Russia, Is Seeking Asylum In Ecuador

    Edward Snowden, the man behind a series of leaks that exposed NSA spy programs, is now on the run from the U.S. He was originally lying low in Hong Kong, but now he’s going to try the Wikileaks escape route.

    The Guardian reports that Snowden has hopped on a plane from Hong Kong to Moscow. From there, he’s planning on making his way to Ecuador. You may recall that Ecuador had previously granted asylum to Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange.

    Before he can get to Ecuador, however, Snowden must be approved for asylum by the government. The country’s foreign minister has received his asylum request, and now he’s reportedly in talks with an Ecuadorian diplomat in the Moscow airport. Assange, who is currently living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, is also petitioning the Ecuadorian government on Snowden’s behalf.

    Of course, all of this raises a question – how did Snowden get out of Hong Kong in the first place? The U.S. put in a request to have him returned to the U.S., but that request was denied after it was found that the U.S. “did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law.”

    To add insult to injury, Hong Kong officials did not notify the U.S. that Snowden had left the city for Moscow until five hours after. The reason? Snowden leaked that the U.S. government regularly hacks computer systems in Hong Kong. In its statement, the Hong Kong government says that it has requested “clarification on reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies.”

    So, where does all of this leave us? Snowden will be holed up inside a Moscow airport for a while until he can figure out a way to leave the country. That’s going to be problematic as his passport was revoked and he does not have a Russian visa. The Russian government may intervene on his behalf, however, as it has indicated that it may offer him asylum itself. He may very well be discussing that right now as his plane to Cuba, and then Ecuador, was found to not have him on it.

  • Julian Assange, Eric Schmidt Discuss Censorship, Bitcoin And The Internet In Recently Published Conversation

    Julian Assange, Eric Schmidt Discuss Censorship, Bitcoin And The Internet In Recently Published Conversation

    It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder that’s still hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after the UK approved his extradition to Sweden. During that time, he has entertained a number of guests, including Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

    WikiLeaks shared a verbatim transcript of a five-hour conversation between Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Julian Assange, Jared Cohen, former Secretary of State advisor to Hillary Clinton, and Lisa Shields, a member of the Council for Foreign Relations. The meeting was arranged so Schmidt and Cohen could speak with Assange about their new book – The New Digital Age.

    A lot of the conversation comes from Assange as he discusses his motivations for starting WikiLeaks. Many people may already know his motivation – to make information free – but his conversation with Schmidt provided a few more details. Assange thinks that the current system of sharing information is broken because it has to go through three or four different channels before it reaches the average citizen. He said that WikiLeaks is “an attempt… at a total system” that collects, curates and disseminates primary sources without any of the self or government mandated censorship that crops up in traditional news publishing.

    Much of the conversation after that is Assange continuing to discuss state and economic censorship, which the latter he claims is the more prevalent of the two. After a bit of that, however, Assange starts to discuss Bitcoin. He voices full support for the digital currency and advises people to jump in early because he assume that its value is going to skyrocket:

    The Bitcoin actually has the balance and incentives right, and that is why it is starting to take off. The different combination of these things. No central nodes. It is all point to point. One does not need to trust any central mint. … The problems with traditional digital currencies on the internet is that you have to trust the mint not to print too much of it. And the incentives for the mint to keep printing are pretty high actually, because you can print free money. That means you need some kind of regulation. … Bitcoin instead has an algorithm where the anyone can create, anyone can be their own mint. They’re basically just searching for collisions with hashes.. A simple way is… they are searching for a sequence of zero bits on the beginning of the thing. And you have to randomly search for, in order to do this. So there is a lot of computational work in order to do this. And each Bitcoin software that is distributed.. That work algorithmically increases as time goes by. So the difficulty in producing Bitcoins becomes harder and harder and harder as time goes by and it is built into the system.

    It should be noted that this conversation took place before recent Bitcoin boom and the subsequent crash.

    Assange also touched upon how the Internet is inspiring revolution today, particularly in countries with oppressive governments:

    The radicalization of internet educated youth. People who are receiving their values from the internet… and then as they find them to be compatible echoing them back. The echo back is now so strong that it drowns the original statements. Completely. The people I’ve dealt with from the 1960s radicals who helped liberate Greece and.. Salazar. They are saying that this moment in time is the most similar to what happened in this period of liberation movements in the 1960s, that they have seen.

    He also says that the Internet is turning the youth of the Western world, who are typically a-political, into political activists thanks to the information they are able to receive on events that they would have otherwise not been exposed to in traditional media.

    You can check out the rest of the transcript here. It’s incredibly fascinating and definitely worth your time.