On the eve of his second anniversary of self-imposed confinement, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claims the publisher of information that governments, big business and security forces do not want to hear is as relevant as ever.

Speaking to reporters by phone on Wednesday, Mr. Assange insisted that WikiLeaks was still in the game, causing trouble and working hard to protect press freedom and whistleblowers, notably former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. With WikiLeakss help, Mr. Snowden evaded arrest and was able to flee last year from Hong Kong to Russia, where he is living in exile.

But it has been a few years since Mr. Assange, the ace hacker from Australia, has made front-page news around the world with sensational leaks that have rattled everyone from American military and intelligence organizations to the president of Tunisia, whose ouster in 2011 and the start of the Arab Spring was in part attributed to massive corruption revealed in leaked cables.

Mr. Assange, who is 42, has made news in the past two years, but most of it has been related to his own fight for freedom. Since June 19, 2012, he has been living under political asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid a British extradition order that would deliver him to Sweden to face police questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct or offences. Mr. Assange sought asylum for fear that the Swedish authorities would send him to the United States, where a grand jury is reportedly considering criminal charges against WikiLeaks for the release of classified security documents.

He said WikiLeaks will expose another secret cache of documents imminently with the publication of a massive file involving international relations. There will be around 50 countries involved and Canada is one of them, he said.

He would not provide details and would not confirm or deny whether the file was related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal being negotiated with 12 countries, including Canada. Late last year, WikiLeaks caused a minor sensation when it published a draft text of the agreement, triggering questions from lawyers about its apparently American-centric view on intellectual property rights. Youll have to check the website [Thursday], is all he would say.

In spite of Mr. Assanges attempts to keep the leak machine rolling, the site has yet to see a repeat of the sensation it triggered in 2010, when it published hundreds of thousands of confidential U.S. files, from embarrassing diplomatic cables to the infamous Collateral Murder video of an American Apache helicopter mowing down a dozen people in an attack in Iraq.

Mr. Assanges legal team announced during his phone conference that it will mount a new legal challenge on Tuesday to the allegations of sexual misconduct involving two women in Sweden.

The new challenge came as Mr. Assange and his lawyers said they will send a letter next week to U.S. Attorney-General Eric Holder calling for him to terminate the four-year criminal investigation into WikiLeaks. The letter was signed by more than 30 human-rights, free-speech and jurist organizations, including the American Association of Jurists.

Mr. Assanges American attorney, Michael Ratner, said: I dont think that investigation has lessened.

Read more:
WikiLeaks is still relevant, Assange says after two years of asylum

Julian Assange speaking from the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012. The WikiLeaks founder has been in the embassy for two years. Photo: AFP/Leon Neal

Julian Assange is promising another massive leak of information affecting 50 countries on Thursday to mark his two years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

On the eve of that anniversary, the Australian editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks invited the worlds media to dial in to the embassy so he could download.

In his conference call late on Wednesday night, Australian time, Assange called former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr a liar; he chastised US President Barack Obama; he revealed he had done more kilometres than he could count on his cross-trainer; and he spoke of his pride in WikiLeaks state-of-the-art technical clout which had allowed him while confined in his diplomatic refuge to manage the evacuation of American intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden from Hong Kong during the largest ever intelligence manhunt the world has ever seen.

US whistleblower Edward Snowden. Julian Assange claimed to be assisting him from the Ecuador embassy in London Photo: Reuters/NBC News

But Assange is making time to watch the World Cup after 729 days of asylum in the embassy. "Of course, Ecuador undoubtedly deserves to win, he said, although he added Brazil probably would triumph. In any case, the reception in this building is quite difficult, which may have its advantages. Perhaps it makes it a bit harder for the bugs to transmit through the walls as well.

Advertisement

Assange said police gather intelligence on visitors and that the British government has spent almost $10 million on 24-hour surveillance of the embassy lest he ever dare to leave the small building, close to Harrods in Knightsbridge.

If he does leave, he faces immediate extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sexual misconduct involving two women for which he is yet to be charged after four years. He dismisses it as a trumped-up, politically driven distraction from the main game: the United States, where Vice-President Joe Biden has called him a high-tech terrorist.

Julian Assange said former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr lied about the level of consular assistance offered to the WikiLeaks founder. Photo: Peter Rae

The rest is here:
Assange unleashes new threat

LOS ANGELES, June 13 (UPI) --WildLeaks, a new WikiLeaks-style website created by Andrea Crosta of the Elephant Action League, allows whistleblowers to report tips on wildlife crime and has been catching some big fish.

"We had our first tip within 24 hours and the response has been beyond our wildest imagination," said Crosta, now executive director of the Elephant Action League. Crosta told the Guardian that people cannot report because they fear the corrupt law enforcement. "You can't, for example, export containers full of ivory from Mombasa without bribing people left, right and centre," Crosta told the Guardian. "We definitely feel we are filling a gap."

Their tips have included elephant poaching in Africa, hunting of Sumatran tigers, illegal lion and leopard hunting, and illegal logging.

The tips are collected and then analyzed by WildLeaks legal and security teams before they decide whether to pursue an investigation.

Crosta said investigations are usually slow because, "people have to trust you." The investigation into al-Shabaab took 18 months. They found the group was pushing tons of ivory through Somalia every month.

A 2011 report from the group Global Financial Integrity puts wildlife crime as the fifth largest illegal market with profits from $7.8 to $10 billion.

The rest is here:
WikiLeaks-style website reports illegal wildlife activity

On the second anniversary of Julian Assange's dramatic arrival at the Ecuadorian embassy, he shows no sign of leaving. And Britain and Sweden show no signs of letting him leave without marching him down to the nearest police station. So what are the options for the WikiLeaks founder? Stay put forever, face the music, hope for a law change? Or is it all one massive distraction anyway?

We ask close friends and associates of Assange, as well as tech experts and extradition lawyers where Assange will be, in five years time.

The US pledges not to prosecute Assange and the WikiLeaker is free to pursue his interests - after facing questioning in Sweden Jennifer Robinson, legal advisor to WikiLeaks and director of legal advocacy for the Bertha Foundation

"Ideally, Julian will be able to travel freely around the world as an Australian or Ecuadorian citizen without fear of prosecution for publishing material in the public interest. The US will have seen the error of its ways and the adverse impact on free speech caused by the WikiLeaks grand jury and will have given assurances he would not be prosecuted or extradited.

"Sweden will take his testimony and let that process run its course so he has a chance to clear his name and, after a public inquiry into the mishandling of his case, change its laws on pre-trial detention much like the UK has already amended its Extradition Act to prevent extradition without charge to prevent anyone else suffering the injustice Julian has suffered. None of this is unreasonable: simply asking the states involved to respect due process and international human rights standards and, indeed, in the case of the US respect its own Constitution.

"If not, he will still be stuck inside that embassy at a cost of 20m to UK taxpayers (on current police costs for surveillance of the Ecuadorian embassy in London) unless Sweden, the UK and the US show political will towards resolving this situation."

Result: Putting his doubts aside, Assange accepts President Hilary Clinton's promise not to ask for his extradition. He faces questioning in Sweden, and rehabilitates WikiLeaks.

Ecuador throws out Assange to the mercy of the UK police Extradition Law Expert Julian Knowles QC, of Matrix Chambers

Continued here:
Will WikiLeaks Julian Assange Still Be In The Ecuadorian Embassy in Five Years Time? Here's 10 Guesses From People Who ...

Analysis

Video will begin in 5 seconds.

Leaked documents indicate international moves that could override Australian financial regulations: Malcolm Maiden analyses the opportunities and dangers for local businesses.

The Trade in Services Agreement document that WikiLeaks has obtained is arcane, but it shows that Australia, the United States, the European Union and 20 other large and small countries are talking about unprecedented mutual access to their financial service sectors.

The question to be answered as negotiations continue is whether Australia can collect gains that outweigh potential losses in its power to regulate its own highly regarded financial sector, including its ability to decide what financial services groups come to this country, and the circumstances in which they come.

The new agreement would take into account the globalisation of markets since the 1995 creation of another multilateral agreement, the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS).

It contemplates data processing exchanges, and dispute resolution mechanisms that could override local rules and regulations that are deemed to be protectionist. Financial groups in countries that have signed the agreement could also more easily establish themselves and expand in other countries that have signed up.

Advertisement

Expansion by acquisition would be possible, and one of several small South American countries negotiating the accord, Panama, wants no ''numerical restrictions'' on how expansion occurs.

Australia has one of the most open and deregulated financial markets in the world. Its financial markets are not rule-free, however, and the new services trade agreement has the potential to conflict with or even override rules that are in place.

Link:
WikiLeaks financial services trade agreement needs to help Australia

The UK Government cancelled a working group set up with Ecuador to find a way of resolving the future of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder has claimed. Foreign Secretary William Hague agreed to the group after meeting Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino last year to discuss Mr Assange, who has been living in refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London for the past two years.

On the eve of the second anniversary of Mr Assange's dramatic arrival at the embassy, he revealed that the working group was not meeting. In a conference call from the embassy, the WikiLeaks publisher said a six-member team had been established during Mr Patino's visit to London with the intention of studying legal and diplomatic issues.

Mr Assange said that following the granting of asylum last year by Russia to US whistleblower Edward Snowden, the UK Government had "unilaterally" cancelled the working group. Mr Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador as he fights to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex allegations by two women.

He fears that if he goes to Sweden he will be taken to the United States, where a long-running investigation is continuing into WikiLeaks and its involvement with former solder Chelsea Manning, who has been jailed for 35 years over the leaking of secret intelligence.

Jennifer Robinson, a legal adviser to WikiLeaks, said a fresh challenge will be made next week to the Swedish authorities after "new information" was received. Mr Assange has offered to be interviewed by Swedish investigators inside the London embassy, but they have declined to travel to the UK to question him about the allegations.

Mr Robinson added that a letter from more than 30 free speech organisations will be sent to the US attorney general Eric Holder next week calling for him to "close down" the investigation into WikiLeaks. Mr Assange said Mr Holder should drop the four-year long investigation or resign, accusing the official of using "weasel words" when asked about the case.

Asked how he was coping with living inside the embassy, housed in a small building close to Harrods in Knightsbridge, Mr Assange said other people were in far more difficult positions, including Chelsea Manning. He also criticised the Metropolitan Police for "gathering intelligence" from people who visit him inside the embassy.

The police operation, which involves a 24-hour guard outside the building, has cost several million pounds. Mr Assange claimed police were "aggressively demanding" addresses and identity details from people who visit him, which he said caused difficulties for him in his ongoing work for WikiLeaks.

He said he had been watching World Cup games - supporting Ecuador - but said the reception wasn't good. "Perhaps that makes it difficult for the bugs to travel through the walls as well."

Michael Ratner, Mr Assange's US legal representative, said the investigation in the US had not "lessened" since it was launched four years ago. He said he believed the WikiLeaks founder would face similar treatment to Chelsea Manning if he was extradited to the US, including solitary confinement, being held in underground cells and a lengthy prison sentence.

Read the original here:
Assange Working Group Cancelled On Eve Of WikiLeaks Founder's Second Year In Asylum

Julian Assange calls for the US Attorney General to drop investigation into WikiLeaks
Subscribe to ITN News: http://bit.ly/1bmWO8h Julian Assange calls for US Attorney General Eric Holder to drop WikiLeaks investigation or resign. Report by Claire Mewse. Like us on Facebook:...

By: ITN

Follow this link:
Julian Assange calls for the US Attorney General to drop investigation into WikiLeaks - Video

Wikileaks #39; Julian Assange speaks two years on - Truthloader
Wikileaks #39; Julian Assange has given a telephone press conference from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, to mark two years since he first sought asylum there. Assange used the conference to...

By: Truthloader

The rest is here:
Wikileaks' Julian Assange speaks two years on - Truthloader - Video

WikiLeaks marks two year anniversary of Assange #39;s imprisonment
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lived in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for two years. The Latin American country originally granted Assange asylum in June 2012, and has not left the...

By: RT America

Read the original here:
WikiLeaks marks two year anniversary of Assange's imprisonment - Video

WikiLeaks will continue to expose secrets despite gov. persecution
WikiLeaks has grown stronger over the last two years despite attempts by the US government to build a legal case against the organization and founder Julian Assange, according to WikiLeaks...

By: RT America

Read the original:
WikiLeaks will continue to expose secrets despite gov. persecution - Video