The world's leading whistleblowing organisation is certainly not going to lie down quietly and die
The High Court's ruling that Julian Assange shall be extradited to Sweden to face an investigation into allegations of sexual assault and rape by two Swedish women was not entirely unexpected, considering how things have gone before this. His extradition is not likely to take place immediately, unless a decision is taken not to appeal; his lawyers are expected to press before the High Court the right to appeal before the Supreme Court.
But as Mr. Assange pointed out in a short statement he made on the steps of the court, no charges have been laid against him in any country, including Sweden. He added that many attempts would no doubt be made to “try to spin these proceedings as they occurred today but they were merely technical. So please go to swedenversusassange.com if you wish to know what is really going on in this case.”
Extradition to Sweden is a distinct possibility, even a probability, and if it happens, the charismatic founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks will face the situation bravely and is confident of coming out clean. He, his core team, and supporters have their concerns. But considering that Mr. Assange has been under house arrest at Ellingham Hall for 330 days — electronically tagged, having to sign in at a nearby police station every day, and required to be back inside the house by 10pm – they are prepared for worse and are nothing if not resilient.
WikiLeaks has been fighting attempts to intimidate, muzzle, and kill it on more than one front. It announced recently that it had been “forced to temporarily suspend its publishing whilst we secure our economic survival.” It revealed that the unlawful, U.S.-directed financial blockade imposed against it through powerful financial intermediaries and some banks had choked 95 per cent of its revenues, running into tens of millions of pounds, and that this blockade threatened its very existence. It has launched a ‘WikiLeaks Needs You' campaign, which provides for perfectly legal practical ways of donating and beating the financial blockade.
The good news is that through this time of troubles, it has been working on new things — new projects, innovative technology, and creative ideas — and has interesting publishing and partnering plans for the future. It is due to launch on November 28 a new submission system, a platform for “principled leaking” that will be more advanced and more secure than anything seen before.
WikiLeaks is certainly not going to lie down quietly and die.
This became clear to me during a three-hour informal conversation with Julian Assange and some members of his core team as recently as Saturday, October 29. Our meeting, at Julian's invitation, was over lunch at a small pub near Ellingham Hall. Many subjects, including the extradition case, the way out of the crisis imposed by the financial blockade, the future of WikiLeaks as a journalistic publisher working with cutting-edge digital technology, its relations with the global news media, and attitudes towards it in different countries, came up in our conversation. Obviously, there is no question of revealing details of our off-the-record conversation.
But what I can say is that while the concerns are serious, the spirit and morale of Julian and his team remain strong. His commitment to the idea that information wants to be free and the world must be democratic and just is as intense as it has ever been in five years of WikiLeaks' existence as a unique whistleblowing source and as a generous publisher that has transformed the rules of the media game. And I can also report from Julian and his team that in terms of expressions of support to WikiLeaks, India is the No. 1 country in the world, followed by Brazil.
Awarness is the right weapon required to topple the dictatorship of immoral politicians fed by greedy corporates. We should not let this awarness fade away in air...
They close down routes to financially support Wikielaks, they convene a 'secret' grand jury to obtain a 'sealed indictment' against its members, they destroy submissions/leaks made to Wikileaks on financial irregularities by large banks, they slander the good names of it's teams members with no evidence yet to show for it- THEY are the enemy of **freedom**. We the people stand with Wikileaks, we stand with The Hindu, we stand with those who shine a bright light on the the rulers of this planet. Individuals may be vulnerable to persecution but **together** our mission is indestructible.
Answer to US hegemony is wikileaks and i am sure that Mr Assange will come back.
So very pleased that our very own "Hindu" has been on this story with unshakable intent. Your coverage of the Wikileaks mission is second to none in India and an inspiration to all who believe in transparent government. Their team has survived extraordinary attempts to be muzzled by powerful global actors- just consider how these actors "turned" a member of the Wikileaks Organization and had him destroy thousands of internal files on Bank of America (allegedly on the prompting of Germany's Intelligence Service). Would not the American Public, in this time of financial meltdown, not have been served better knowing what BOA was really up to? Simply put- on a scale of good and evil, I would say Wikileaks weights strongly on the side of good. Thumbs up to Mr. N Ram and his own team of dedicated journalists.
An Illegal financial blockade on an activist organization is a dire threat to global economic & political freedoms. Whether one chooses to support the mission of Wikileaks or not, the withdrawal of services by VISA/MASTERCARD/PAY PAL without due process of law should be deeply distressing to those who believe such decisions must be undertaken on the basis of legal jurisprudence. As it stands, no such due process has taken place and the withdrawal of services by the above listed companies has been purely based on informal requests by US senators. Amazon also terminated use of its cloud servers on such a whimsical basis. Effectively, a few companies that control enormous market share have cut off the legs of Wikileaks and they don't even have a court order to support their decisions. USA- *land of the free*- seems less that 'shining city on the hill' espousing it's founders values of freedom in all spheres of life- than that of an insecure, declining power- threatening the rule of law.
Our journey from nomads through tribes, civilizations to present day modern societies is a proof of inevitability of human urge for change to a better world. Through out history we have seen great men, organisations questioning the set order of things and the regimes have fought change only to lose to it. Mr. Assange and the other unsung heroes of this campaign for transparency are the great men of this era who have questioned the wrongs happening around us and dared to expose the corrupt practices. Definitely those in power will fight us, threaten us but ultimately lose, only need is we stay united.
As Gandhiji said "First they ignore you, then laugh at you, then threaten you and finally you will win."
Assange has enjoyed every right, beyond what a typical accused might enjoy. Linking this case with a long line of problems hides the actally rather than reveals it. I loathe to disturb Julian Assanges celebrity, has no-one considered poor Bradley Manning? He's the man who leaked the documents and has spent the best part of 18 months in a US Marine prison, no defence fund for him, little publicity and Assange doesn't even mention him. He's the whistleblower, he's being punished as we speak, but everyone's worried about Assange on quite seperate charges. It stinks.
For all their hullabaloo over rights violation in Kashmir, the US and the UK have denied Mr. Assange the right to freedom of speech by filing false cases against him. WikiLeaks is not going to stop to expose the truth behind the illegal occupation of Iraq by the US and the UK. Hope our media learns from WikiLeaks to be bold enough.
This wiki leaks which released all the cables gives the impression that only US practices such diplomacy. Every country does this and wiki leaks had no access to this.It managed to break into the US documents which seems so scandalous. If wiki leaks or any other organization were to get at similar cables or document it would be the same and for the layman shocking.
The extent of secrecy is an anomaly to the practices of democratic Governments. Obama in his election speeches was aware of it but pledges towards more openness to government have been no more than an election gambit. Assange and Wikileaks offer the possibility for the public to be more aware of motivation and methods to government function. Information of that order is a monumental increment to the democratic process. 'The Hindu' is to be congratulated for its position of support.
Assange is being punished for his expose. When Strauss Khan is allowed to walk free,why same treatment is not given to ASSANGE.It is an attack on the freedom of expression and a well planned conspiracy to gag the voice that thretens to expose the powerful.
Wikileak's was the FIRST WAR on CORPORATE GREED feeding POLITICAL GREED & ABUSING DEMOCRACY. The 99% people of the democratic world need to UNITE to make their VOTE's COUNT WHEN IT MATTERS!!! Democracy is being crushed in West as in India by politicians in cahoots with corporates. The whole world knows the truth of dictatorships like Libya, Saddam etc, but let the world know the truth of pseudo-democracies like USA, India etc where 99% people vote to elect some leaders, who after election work to benefit the 1% greedy corporates & their cronies while the 99% majority continues to suffer indignation, unemployment, low-wages, high-inflation etc.
The achievement to a noble goal is always beset with obstacles."Sreyamsi bahu vignani" says the Sanskrit proverb. Wikileaks is not going to lie down and die - says the report.(Thanks, Mr.Ram)Everyone who likes freedom from oppression, good governance, and democracy,would wish Julian Assange and his team success in their efforts to make information as a tool of change, aided by modern technology.
Brave men, Mr.Assange and his team! May their tribe increase! It is so odd and absurd that in Democracies that we are proud of, the whistle blower and not the culprit is punished. Serious thought needs to be given to the nature and functioning of Democracies. People have woken up anyway. Things will change.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange deserves Nobel Prize for exposing the politicians double standards policies. Thanks to Ms. Butenis, the US Amabassdor to express her views and information truthfully on the Sri Lankan war crimes and Rajapakse family members criminal activities to the world. Also Indian politicians dark side of the dealings were exposed well! World needs several Julian Assnages to be fair, reasonable and equitable.
I only hope that our anglicised Indian media (with respect) will draw some lessons and a message; if we want to eradicate the corruption from our society at large.
Being an ardent reader of Hindu for many years, I must confess I am disappointed that the Hindu has extended its support to a person and an organization, which is not by any means a pioneering spirit. Mr Assange leads a very wealthy and unprincipled person lifestyle, and has not aspired to find the truth about any particular scandal as such, but just anything that comes out. While this may be in someways journalism, it is generally more of a blackmailing structure, if not just for money, but to get back at his personal enemies.True journalism brings out and damages only guilty people, like Watergate and Bofors, while this kind of money for news ends up often in harming innocent people, and also putting many people in danger's way.
From what little I know about you, Sir, your principled opinion about Mr. Assange and his mission is admirably characteristic of both you and The Hindu, while it is remarkably absent in an overwhelmingly capitalist-dominated sycophantic western press. I cannot say what the intentions of a generally sensible Sweden might be in this instance, it is evident, however, that most pro-USA states--particularly like Britain--are so deeply implicated in America's complicated web of public deception and extra-legal conduct that they cannot afford to let this nearly unmatched whistle blower remain free for long. Thank you for this refreshingly courageous and plain-speaking coverage.
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