We apparently want our heroes to be mild mannered and non-combative. Photograph: FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA

The secret CIA files appeared just before Christmas. One detailed how CIA operatives could maintain cover, using fake IDs, when travelling through foreign airports. Israels Ben Gurion airport was said to be one of the hardest to trick.

The other document, from 2009, was an assessment of the CIAs assassination program. It raised doubts about the effectiveness of the program in reducing terrorism. Likewise with Israels killing of Palestinians.

In Afghanistan, the CIA discovered that murdering Taliban leaders could radicalise the militants, allowing even more extreme actors to enter the battlefield. The Obama administration ignored this advice and unleashed targeted killings in the country. Unsurprisingly, the insurgency is thriving.

These vital insights into the war on terror were released by WikiLeaks and received extensive global coverage.

Since 2010, when WikiLeaks released Collateral Murder, showing American forces killing Iraqi civilians, there have been multiple covert and public attempts to silence the organisation. Julian Assange has now been stuck in Londons Ecuadorian embassy for two and a half years fighting an extradition order from Sweden over allegations of sexual misconduct. There is an ongoing US grand jury examining the organisations role in publishing war and State Department cables. On Christmas Eve, WikiLeaks revealed that Google had turned over the Gmail account and metadata of a WikiLeaks employee in response to a US federal warrant.

The organisations ability to stay afloat and continue to source and release insightful documents among all this is remarkable.

There is some good news: Visa and MasterCard are being sued for refusing to allow funds to flow to WikiLeaks, and Assanges lawyers are confident that the current impasse with Sweden will be resolved (although the irregularities over the case are deeply disturbing).

But the reality remains that the public image of Assange has taken a beating after years of legal fights, the botched Australian WikiLeaks political party and constant smears by journalists and politicians. We apparently want our heroes to be mild mannered and non-combative. We supposedly need them to be polite and not uncover countless, dirty abuses by western forces. We clearly dont forgive them for not being perfect. Or perhaps we have a limit to how many war crimes we want to hear about with nobody facing justice? Thats hardly WikiLeaks fault. The group has made mistakes, and will make many more, but as a supporter since its 2006 inception, Im struck by its resilience.

WikiLeaks has been warning against the dangers of mass surveillance for years. The 2014 Assange book, When Google Met WikiLeaks, features an insightful essay on the dangers of Googles desire to lead American interventionist foreign policy. The book gained headlines across the world. In the month of its release, the organisation offered new documents on German company FinFisher selling its spying equipment to repressive regimes.

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WikiLeaks: not perfect, but more important than ever for free speech

A Swiss banker accused of revealing details of tax-dodging clients on WikiLeaks is a traitor who should be sentenced to three and a half years in prison, prosecutors said.

Rudolf Elmer, formerly employed by Julius Baer Group Ltd as chief operating officer of a Cayman Islands unit, calls himself a whistleblower, thus dressing himself in a cloak of legitimacy, prosecutor Peter Giger said in closing arguments.

He is a pure traitor who fought the bank again and again under the pretence of humanitarian ideas.

Elmer, 59, is accused of violating the countrys financial secrecy laws in what he says was an effort to raise awareness of the use of Swiss bank accounts for illegal activity including tax evasion.

He also allegedly offered bank data to the German government and fabricated a letter to German chancellor Angela Merkel from the Swiss bank, advising her to close an account she never had. Countries including the US, the UK and Germany have used testimony from former Swiss bankers or stolen client data to pursue offshore tax dodgers.

While such cases are not uncommon in Switzerland, where for almost a century the principle of bank secrecy has been enforced by laws that carry prison terms for offenders, Elmers trial has attracted more attention than most.

Thats partly because the bank data transfer involved a website that has drawn the ire of the US and other governments around the world for publishing confidential documents under an avowed commitment to increased transparency.

The trial resumed for the first time since Elmer collapsed at the opening on December 10, forcing the court to postpone the proceedings. His lawyer, Ganden Tethong, said he is still not well but he seemed in better condition.

Elmers lawyer asked the court to clear him of all charges, saying the statute of limitations had run out on one count. She also argued Swiss law doesnt apply because the alleged offences didnt occur in Switzerland and because he wasnt actually employed by the bank at the time. The state should cover his legal costs and compensate him for time already served and the loss of business while he was detained, Tethong said.

The prosecution argued that in addition to a prison sentence, Elmer should be banned from working as a banker and should cover the cost of the trial. The court said it would deliver its decision on January 19.

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‘Traitor’ Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer gave tax files to Wikileaks