Category Archives: Wikileaks

Manning’s Wikileaks conviction, 35-year sentence upheld

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Posted: 2:00 PM Updated: 2:06 PM He was sentenced in August 2013 for leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents while serving in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.

By David Dishneau The Associated Press

An Army general is upholding Private Chelsea Mannings conviction and 35-year prison sentence for giving reams of classified U.S. government information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

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Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who now is known as Chelsea Manning, is escorted to a security vehicle in Fort Meade, Md., after a hearing in his court-martial, in this Aug. 20, 2013, photo.

The Associated Press

The Military District of Washington said Monday that Maj. Gen. Jeffery Buchanan has taken final action in the court-martial of the former intelligence analyst from Crescent, Okla.

Manning was sentenced in August 2013 for six Espionage Act violations and 14 other offenses for leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents while serving in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.

As commander of the jurisdiction in which the trial was held, Buchanan could have approved or reduced the court-martial findings.

His action clears the way for an automatic appeal to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

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Manning’s Wikileaks conviction, 35-year sentence upheld

WikiLeaks Live Tweets Glenn Greenwald’s Flight to US

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Image: Adam Berry/Getty Images, Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-04-11 14:25:19 UTC

Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, two of the journalists Edward Snowden chose as recipients of the leaked cache of NSA secret documents that dominated headlines across the world for months, are about to land in the United States and WikiLeaks wants you to track their flight.

The anti-secrecy organization tweeted on Friday morning to alert its followers that Greenwald and Poitras were about to land in New York, where they're scheduled to accept the Polk Award for their reporting on the NSA leaks. WikiLeaks even published the two journalists' alleged flight number.

After that first update, WikiLeaks went on to basically live tweet their flight's progress.

It's unclear why WikiLeaks is doing this, but Greenwald's and Poitras' flight is newsworthy because this is the first time both journalists are going to be in the United States after breaking the NSA stories. WikiLeaks presumably wants to draw attention to their entrance in the U.S., in case there are any delays at customs.

In the past few months Greenwald has repeatedly said he wouldn't feel safe coming to the United States in the current political climate. In January, Director of National Intelligence Jams Clapper implied that the journalists working with Snowden are "accomplices" during a congressional hearing, and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Greenwald should be prosecuted for his reporting.

Moreover, Poitras has often been stopped at the U.S. border and detained for hours for no apparent reason, which gives supporters of the two journalists some reason for concern.

But Greenwald told The Huffington Post on Thursday that he's not afraid.

"I shouldnt allow those tactics to stop me from returning to my own country," he said.

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WikiLeaks Live Tweets Glenn Greenwald's Flight to US

WikiLeaks figure honored in Pride parade

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) An imprisoned U.S. Army private charged in a massive leak of U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks website will serve as an honorary grand marshal in this year's San Francisco Pride parade.

Parade organizer Gary Virginia said Friday that Chelsea Manning formerly known as Bradley Manning was chosen to make amends for a controversy last year. Manning was named an honorary grand marshal ahead of the 2013 parade, but had the honor revoked.

Virginia apologized, saying that decision was mishandled.

The Chelsea Manning Support Network says Manning thanked Pride organizers for the honor from Fort Leavenworth military prison.

Stephen Peters, president of the American Military Partner Association a group advocating for same-sex military families says Manning's actions don't represent other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in uniform and that another choice would be more appropriate.

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WikiLeaks figure honored in Pride parade

Wikileaks: Julian Assange Teases ‘Announcement Relating To The Future Of The Internet’

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Representatives will discuss the "principles of Internet governance and the proposal for a roadmap for future development of this ecosystem," and live hubs will be held in 33 cities across 23 nations to allow the public "real time" interactions with the event inSo Paulo, scheduled for April 23-24.

Originally: Julian Assanges whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks, said it will make an announcement relating to the future of the Internet on Twitter Tuesday.

The site began teasing the announcement on the social media platform before 10 a.m. EDT. Last April, WikiLeaks published more than 1.7 million diplomatic cables and intelligence documents from the 1970s. Those documents included the so-called Kissinger cables, in which former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was recorded saying, The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.

WikiLeaks drew international attention four years ago when it unveiled a video showing classified cockpit gunsight footage of a 2007 Baghdad airstrike.

Assange announced earlier this month that he was writing a major new book, in which he said he would detail a 2011 encounter with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt. His publisher said that the book, When Google Met WikiLeaks, includes an historic dialogue between the North and South Poles of the Internet.

The book is scheduled to be published in September, and in it Assange is expected to recall a meeting with Schmidt during his 2011 house arrest, when he argued for the liberating power of the Internet based on its freedom and statelessness -- and Schmidt countered by saying emancipation is at one with U.S. foreign policy objectives and is driven by connecting non-Western countries to American companies and markets, according to publisher OR Books.

This is a developing story. Follow Reporter Thomas Halleck on Twitter for updates @tommylikey

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Wikileaks: Julian Assange Teases ‘Announcement Relating To The Future Of The Internet’

German town won’t let parents name their child ‘WikiLeaks’

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PASSAU, Germany, April 4 (UPI) -- A German town has ruled that a couple cannot name their newborn after Julian Assanges online baby.

An eight-month resident of Passau tried to name his baby Wikileaks, after the popular whistle-blowing website, but he was turned down.

Officials in the city failed to approve the babys name when journalist Hajar Hamalaw tried to slip it past them.

"We were very disappointed after the rejection. Hundreds of people across the globe were allowed to use the name of Barack Obama's dog for their child, but I can't use WikiLeaks?" Hamalaw told NBC News.

The 28-year-old called his son Dako on the birth certificate instead.

"This is not only a simple name for me -- it has a big meaning. WikiLeaks has changed the world," Hamalaw said. "For my family, the name is a synonym with transparent truth. My two-year-old daughter is called 'Diya,' which translates to 'Light of Truth.'"

In the past, names like McDonald, Woodstock and Peppermint have been rejected because German parents are banned from naming their children after towns or brands.

In an initial information session, we told the family that we would have to reject the name based on similar assessments in recent court rulings, said Passau Town Hall spokeswoman Karin Schmeller.

[NBC News] [The Local]

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German town won't let parents name their child 'WikiLeaks'

Father Banned From Naming His Son ‘WikiLeaks’

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A new father in Germany hoped to honor Julian Assanges whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks by naming their baby WikiLeaks. Not Julian. But WikiLeaks.

But Hajar Hamalaw, an Iraqi journalist now living in Bavaria, said that an official at his local registry office rejected the name, citing concerns about the babys welfare, NBC News reports.

Hamalaw said the name had big meaning for him and is a synonym with transparent truth. The official who rejected the name, however, didnt initially know what it meant, he said.

She thought I was presenting the name of a television show, Hamalaw told NBC News. We were very disappointed after the rejection. Hundreds of people across the globe were allowed to use the name of Barack Obamas dog for their child, but I cant use WikiLeaks?

Eventually, Hamalaw and his wife settled on the name Dako for the babys birth certificate, but they totally plan on having his friends and family continue to call him WikiLeaks.

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Father Banned From Naming His Son ‘WikiLeaks’