Category Archives: Wikileaks

Swedish court upholds arrest warrant for WikiLeaks’ Assange

Posted on by

July 16, 2014: Julian Assange's lawyers Tomas Olsson, left, and Per E. Samuelsson talk to media prior to a public court hearing in Stockholm.AP

A Swedish court has decided to uphold a warrant for the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted for alleged sexual assault.

The Stockholm District Court opened at midday to review the arrest warrant, which alleges incidents of rape and sexual molestation against Assange in 2010, which he denies, according to The Local.

The court ruled to uphold a detention order on Assange, which reaffirms the legal basis for his international arrest warrant, The Associated Press reports.

Assanges lawyers said they will appeal the decision.

The 43-year-old has caused international controversy by leaking secret documents belonging to the United States.

Since releasing the documents in 2012, Assange has hunkered down at the Ecuadoran embassy in London to avoid being extradited to Sweden, which he fears could be a gateway to transferring him for prosecution in America.

Wednesdays hearing originated following a change in Swedish law which means that Assanges prosecutors must hand over evidence against him in the case, including texts from a Swedish woman who allegedly indicated that she did not want to press charges, The Local reports.

Click for more from The Local.

Here is the original post:
Swedish court upholds arrest warrant for WikiLeaks' Assange

Swedish court to rule on Assange warrant

Posted on by

Wednesday 16 July 2014 07.15

A Swedish court will hold a public hearing to determine if an arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for alleged sexual assault should be dropped.

A decision to cancel the warrant would be a step towards enabling the 43-year-old Australian to walk out of the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he has been holed up for the past two years in a bid to avoid extradition.

The Stockholm District Court will review the arrest warrant, issued in late 2010, for incidents of rape and sexual molestation that allegedly took place that year, claims Mr Assange denies.

Assange sought refuge in Ecuador's embassy in Britain in June 2012 after having exhausted all legal options at British courts to avoid being extradited to Sweden.

He has said he fears that being sent to Sweden would be a pretext for transferring him to the United States, where WikiLeaks sparked an uproar with its publication of thousands of secret documents.

WikiLeaks repeatedly drove the global news agenda with startling revelations of the behind-the-scenes activities of governments around the world.

From confidential assessments by US diplomats of Chinese leaders to revised body counts in Iraq, the WikiLeaks documents provided the public with an unprecedented look under the hood of international politics.

Mr Assange's legal team has argued that Swedish prosecutors have dragged out the case unreasonably long by not interviewing him at the embassy.

"We are confident about the hearing," Mr Assange's lawyer Thomas Olsson said.

Go here to see the original:
Swedish court to rule on Assange warrant

Exclusive: DN! Goes Inside Assange’s Embassy Refuge to Talk WikiLeaks, Snowden and Winning Freedom – Video

Posted on by


Exclusive: DN! Goes Inside Assange #39;s Embassy Refuge to Talk WikiLeaks, Snowden and Winning Freedom
http://www.democracynow.org - In a Democracy Now! special, we go inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London to interview Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He has been holed up there for more than...

By: democracynow

View post:
Exclusive: DN! Goes Inside Assange's Embassy Refuge to Talk WikiLeaks, Snowden and Winning Freedom - Video

WikiLeaks – Times Topics – The New York Times

Posted on by

Apr. 24, 2014

Soldier convicted as Pfc Bradley Manning of leaking documents to WikiLeaks wins victory toward living as a woman when Kansas judge grants petition for a change of name to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning. MORE

Maj Gen Jeffrey S Buchanan denies clemency for Chelsea Manning and upholds the former soldier's 35-year prison sentence for providing secret files to WikiLeaks. MORE

Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, already a documentary subject, is now the focus of Bill Condon feature film The Fifth Estate; Assange burst into public consciousness in 2010 with WikiLeaks' release of Apache helicopter attack video, revealing millions of secrets and unlocking rarefied kind of fame. MORE

Op-Ed article by Australian journalist Julia Baird describes how WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's bid for a seat in the Australian Senate was undone by accusations that he acted like other politicians. MORE

Swedish police open investigation after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urges them to find out what happened to suitcase he thinks was stolen from him by intelligence agents as he traveled from Sweden to Germany in 2010. MORE

News organizations are divided in their handling of request that they now refer to Pfc Bradley Manning as a woman. MORE

Pfc Bradley Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking vast archives of government files to WikiLeaks, says that he is female and asks to receive hormone therapy while in prison, setting up a potential conflict over a treatment the Army says it does not provide to its inmates. MORE

Pfc Bradley Manning is sentenced to 35 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks; sentence is longest ever handed down in case involving leak of United States government information for purpose of having information reported to public; leak lifted veil on American and military diplomatic activities worldwide; Manning will be eligible for parole in about seven years. MORE

Editorial contends Pfc Bradley Manning's 35-year sentence is too severe, given his stated desire not to betray his country but to shed light on realities of American war effort; notes prosecutors are attempting to discourage other leakers with sentence, but holds even threat of a severe prison sentence will not deter those who believe the government is too secretive. MORE

See original here:
WikiLeaks - Times Topics - The New York Times

Former Swiss banker charged with giving data to WikiLeaks

Posted on by

Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer (right) hands over two CDs to the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Frontline Club in London in January, 2011. Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA Wire.

A Swiss prosecutor brought charges against former Julius Baer private banker Rudolf Elmer today for allegedly handing over confidential data to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and attempting to pass on files to German officials.

The former head of Baers Cayman Islands office has been under investigation by Zurich prosecutors since 2011, when he was arrested for giving Mr Assange what - according to Mr Elmer - were two discs containing confidential information on about 2,000 offshore banking clients.

The Zurich prosecutor for economic crime brought charges against Rudolf Elmer on July 9th, 2014, for breaching banking secrecy and for forgery, the prosecutor said in a statement.

The charges refer to data passed to Mr Assange during a news conference in London and to alleged attempts by Mr Elmer to pass on confidential client data to German officials in 2009 and 2010.

In the past, some German states have bought data leaked from Swiss banks in order to get at names of their citizens who evade taxes, but it is not clear if Mr Elmers case has any connection to this.

Mr Elmer, who in past has said he wants to draw attention to financial abuses, could not be immediately reached for comment today. The Zurich prosecutor said Mr Elmer denies having acted criminally.

WikiLeaks has angered US authorities by publishing hundreds of secret diplomatic cables.

Reuters

Continued here:
Former Swiss banker charged with giving data to WikiLeaks