Category Archives: Wikileaks

‘Fear factor should be there’ – Wikileaks spokesperson issues warning over TTIP threat – Video

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Fear factor should be there - Wikileaks spokesperson issues warning over TTIP threat
Watch the full episode here: http://bit.ly/1vEGWt7 Kristinn Hrafnsson, of Wikileaks, talks to Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi about TTIP. Wikileaks ha...

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‘Fear factor should be there’ - Wikileaks spokesperson issues warning over TTIP threat - Video

Icelandic hacker pleads guilty for stealing $240k from WikiLeaks

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An Icelandic computer hacker and former associate of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange unexpectedly pleaded guilty on Wednesday to embezzling 30 million Icelandic crowns ($240,000) from the organisation.

Sigurdur Thordarsson's courtroom plea is the latest twist in the saga of Wikileaks, which released thousands of secret U.S. embassy cables in 2010 and 2011, deeply embarrassing Washington.

Known as 'Siggi the Hacker', Thordarsson has previously said that he turned an informant for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2011, a year before Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault accusations that he has denied.

In the run up to his Iceland trial, Thordarsson rejected charges that he stole the proceeds of the sales of Wikileaks-branded items, and his U-turn on Wednesday was a surprise.

Thordarsson's lawyer, Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson told the court, "After going over the charges thoroughly and speaking with my client, he has decided to plead guilty to all charges,"

The lawyer would not make any comment after the court session, including why Thordarsson had changed his mind.

Thordarsson posted a long description of his ties to Wikileaks including photos of him with Assange, his dialogue with the FBI and his defense against the fraud charges, on an Icelandic news website in June 2013.

He originally said his own bank account had to be used to take in money for Wikileaks merchandise because a block had been imposed on company credit cards after the release of the cables.

Wikileaks said it believed Thordarsson had talked to the FBI in Denmark.

"He was a volunteer who abused his position through fraud to obtain money from T-shirts and coffee mugs just after we were imposed with the banking blockade," Wikileaks representative Kristinn Hrafnsson, himself Icelandic, said by telephone.

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Icelandic hacker pleads guilty for stealing $240k from WikiLeaks

Guardian’s Luke Harding wins prestigious James Cameron prize

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Luke Harding. The prize's chair of judges says it recognises a journalist who writes in the Cameron spirit 'original, eloquent, iconoclasic rebellious.' Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian

The Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding has won the prestigious James Cameron prize for 2014 for his work on Russia, Ukraine, Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks.

The honour is given in memory of the celebrated foreign correspondent and author James Cameron, who died in 1985.

George Brock, professor of journalism at City University, London, and chair of the judges, said the award recognised the work of a journalist who writes and thinks in the James Cameron spirit that is to say original, eloquent, iconoclastic, perhaps somewhat rebellious and wide-ranging.

He added: We looked for someone who brought a touch of incisive wisdom to bear on a variety of subjects. And we found one: this years winner has written at a variety of lengths up to and including books on subjects from WikiLeaks to the dismemberment of Ukraine and the surveillance revelations of Edward Snowden.

Harding was the Guardians Moscow bureau chief from 2007 until 2011, when the Kremlin expelled him from the country in the first case of its kind since the cold war. He has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, eastern Ukraine and other war zones.

He is the author of several non-fiction books including Mafia State: How One Reporter Became an Enemy of the Brutal New Russia; WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assanges War on Secrecy; and The Snowden Files,an account of the Edward Snowden revelations published in February.

The award was announced in central London shortly before an annual memorial lecture, delivered this year by Christine Ockrent, one of Frances best-known journalists, on the professions new risks and new rewards.

Harding is the latest in a number of Guardian and Observer writers to be recognised by the Cameron Trust. These include Gary Younge, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, David Hirst, Martin Woollacott, Ed Vulliamy, Jonathan Steele, Maggie OKane, Suzanne Goldenberg, Neal Ascherson and Chris McGreal.

Other recipients have included Lyse Doucet, Michael Buerk, John Simpson, Robert Fisk, Charles Wheeler, Bridget Kendall, George Alagiah, Fergal Keane and Ann Leslie.

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Guardian’s Luke Harding wins prestigious James Cameron prize

Hacker claims he stole from Wikileaks

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Reuters

Former associate of Julian Assange, Sigurdur Thordarsson pleads guilty to embezzling from WikiLeaks after turning informant to the FBI.

An Icelandic computer hacker and former associate of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange unexpectedly pleaded guilty on Wednesday to embezzling 30 million Icelandic crowns (NZ$308,826) from the organisation.

Sigurdur Thordarsson's courtroom plea is the latest twist in the saga of Wikileaks, which released thousands of secret US embassy cables in 2010 and 2011, deeply embarrassing Washington.

Known as 'Siggi the Hacker', Thordarsson has previously said that he turned an informant for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2011, a year before Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault accusations that he has denied.

In the run up to his Iceland trial, Thordarsson rejected charges that he stole the proceeds of the sales of Wikileaks-branded items, and his U-turn on Wednesday was a surprise.

"After going over the charges thoroughly and speaking with my client, he has decided to plead guilty to all charges," Thordarsson's lawyer, Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson, told the court.

The lawyer would not make any comment after the court session, including why Thordarsson had changed his mind.

No date was set for sentencing in the case.

Thordarsson posted a long description of his ties to Wikileaks including photos of him with Assange, his dialogue with the FBI and his defence against the fraud charges, on an Icelandic news website in June 2013.

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Hacker claims he stole from Wikileaks

Julian Assange makes balcony appearance with Noam Chomsky

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Rare appearance: Julian Assange with Noam Chomsky on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Photo: AP

London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has made a rare public appearance on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to greet his latest visitor.

Noam Chomsky, the US philosopher and activist, paid a brief visit to the embassy, joining Mr Assange to look out at the continued police presence.

The embassy has been guarded for 24 hours a day since the Australian arrived to seek asylum over two years ago.

He will be arrested if he leaves the building, where he sought refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sex-related allegations.

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Mr Assange fears he will be transferred to the United States if he travels to Sweden and be quizzed about the activities of WikiLeaks.

PA

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Julian Assange makes balcony appearance with Noam Chomsky

Ecuador Ratifies Julian Assange Asylum Status, Offers Sweden Access To WikiLeaks Founder

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Ecuador ratified Friday its diplomatic asylum status for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in the countrys London embassy since June 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges. The move makes official Assanges protected status and means he can remain under the countrys protection indefinitely.

"In keeping with its long tradition of human rights, particularly those of the victims of political persecution, Ecuador reaffirms its commitment to protect the life and liberty of the citizen Julian Assange, said a statement from Ecuadors Foreign Ministry posted by Nuestra Tele Noticias.

The announcement comes a day after a Swedish court upheld an order to detain Assange, 43, over sexual assault allegations. Assanges lawyers requested to have the order withdrawn because it cannot be enforced while Assange remains under Ecuadors protection against winding up in U.S. custody.

Ecuador has been shielding Assange from extradition out of concern Sweden will pass him to U.S. officials, who view the Australian publisher and journalist as a fugitive from justice. Assange is wanted for his role in obtaining and leaking hundreds and thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables and Army reports from Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is serving 35 years for obtaining and giving the documents to WikiLeaks.

Ecuadors human rights law doesnt permit extradition of people to countries where they could face the death penalty. The U.S. Espionage Act of 1917 could allow federal prosecutors to pursue capital punishment if Assange is found to have aided the countrys enemies by leaking the documents.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority has pursued Assange since 2010 to further a preliminary investigation into rape and molestation allegations involving two women. But because Sweden has an extradition treaty with the United States, the country could pass Assange to U.S. authorities.

On Friday Ecuador said it was confident it could reopen promptly channels for political dialogue at the highest level with the government of Sweden, and offered to allow Swedish authorities to take statements from Assange either by visiting the Ecuadorean embassy in London or by electronic means.

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Ecuador Ratifies Julian Assange Asylum Status, Offers Sweden Access To WikiLeaks Founder