[D66] WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks with WSWS

[Antid Oto]

“The attacks on us are extraordinarily revealing”
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips
16 March 2012

Julian Assange spoke with the World Socialist Web Site this week about the
US-led attacks on WikiLeaks, freedom of the press and other basic democratic
rights, and the impending British Supreme Court ruling on his appeal against
extradition to Sweden on bogus sexual assault allegations.

The WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief has not been charged with a single
crime in Sweden, Britain or any other country. Nevertheless, Assange has been
held under house arrest for over 450 days, forced to wear an electronic ankle
tag, observe a 10 p.m. curfew and report to police on a daily basis.
Julian Assange leaving Royal Court of Justice in London last July (photo: acidpolly)

Richard Phillips: Can you comment on the latest details on the United States
grand jury indictment and what happens if you’re extradited to Sweden?

Julian Assange: The new evidence that emerged from the Stratfor files—emails
from Texas-based private intelligence agency—show that the US government has
obtained a secret grand jury indictment against me. The US ambassador to the
United Kingdom, Louis Susman, stated in February 2011 that the US government
would wait and see what happened with the current Swedish extradition case as to
whether it would pursue extradition itself.

The US ambassador to Australia [Jeffrey L. Bleich], one week prior to Obama’s
recent visit, also told the Australian media that the Australian government
might have to consider its extradition obligations in relation to me, presumably
in case I returned to Australia. And while WikiLeaks has many of its people
under legal attack, the organisation itself is also under an extra-judicial
financial blockade. There are some 40 people who have been swept up in
operations by the FBI, Scotland Yard or other police forces.

Regarding the pending Supreme Court decisions in Great Britain over the Swedish
extradition case, if we are unsuccessful then I’m expecting to be extradited to
Sweden within 10 days and then possibly re-extradited to the United States. Even
if we are successful in the Supreme Court, the situation will be similar because
the United States is likely to unseal its espionage charges through the grand
jury and apply directly for my extradition from Great Britain.

Of course, none of these things will happen if it’s not possible to do so
politically. When a legal case reaches a sufficiently high public profile for
the government, then it becomes a matter of politics.

RP: Do you have any detailed information on direct collusion between Britain,
the US and Sweden over your extradition?

JA: What we can say publicly is that on December 8, 2010, the Independent
newspaper published a report about informal contacts that were already occurring
at that stage between the US and Sweden in relation to my extradition. The
Australian embassy in Washington also sent a cable to Canberra round this time,
stating that the US intelligence and criminal investigation into WikiLeaks was
of “unprecedented scale and nature.” It also said that the criminal prosecution
into relation to me was “active and vigorous”. That material was the result of a
Freedom of Information request and printed in the Sydney Morning Herald a few
months ago.

The UK crown prosecution service has also refused a request under the Freedom of
Information Act in relation to communications over potential extradition
arrangements, stating that it would affect Great Britain’s diplomatic relations
with other countries. In the middle of last year, the UK’s extradition reform
panel, which was appointed by the home secretary, met with Eric Holder, the US
attorney general, and a number of members of the defence department in the
United States. In addition, there have been other recent meetings between Carl
Bildt, the Swedish minister of foreign affairs [and close friend of Karl Rove],
and William Haig, the UK foreign affairs minister.

RP: Can you comment on the role being played by Australia’s Gillard government?

JA: The reaction by the Gillard government to WikiLeaks activities, in
particular our release of the US diplomatic cables, was publicly the worst of
any nation. Gillard falsely stated that our organisation was engaged in illegal
activities. This was found to be false by an Australian Federal Police
investigation.

Together with the attorney-general, she initiated a “whole of government task
force” against WikiLeaks, recruiting the Australian Federal Police, the external
intelligence agency ASIS, the domestic intelligence agency ASIO, the defence
department and the attorney-general’s department. Publicly, Gillard has not
issued a single statement of support and we are not aware of any private support.

RP: The corporate media claims that the financial blockade of WikiLeaks by
PayPal, Mastercard, Visa and others has shattered the organisation. What’s your
response?

JA: We have two active court cases against the blockade and a third complaint to
the European Commission, which is overdue in making a preliminary finding.
Although the blockade has severed 95 percent of WikiLeaks’s income, the
organisation is still extremely popular around the world and we are able to
continue regardless.

RP: Will WikiLeaks be publishing information about the preparations for war
against Iran and Syria?

JA: Yes. We’ve been publishing information this past week and that process will
be ongoing. We published a very interesting report about special forces
operations in Syria last December.

RP: Have you read the World Socialist Web Site and what do you think of it? What
must WSWS readers explain to others about the political significance of the
attacks on you and WikiLeaks?

I’ve read the World Socialist Web Site for many years. I admire the simple
layout and the articles, which are usually accurate, provided one does not step
onto socialist sectarian issues. I would call on readers of the World Socialist
Web Site to take the following steps: firstly, to join Friends of WikiLeaks at
wlfriends.org; secondly to read the facts at Justice4assange.com instead of the
spin; to follow the WikiLeaks twitter feed; correct smears whenever you see
them; and help spread the values and ideals of WikiLeaks in your workplace and
to family and friends.

WikiLeaks is an organisation that fights to achieve just reform and to spread
certain values. If we are successful in promoting justice and having others take
up our values then we will be successful, regardless of the assaults on the
organisation.

RP: How do you regard the assault on you and WikiLeaks from the standpoint of
truthful journalism and its future?

JA: The attacks on us are extraordinarily revealing. Yes, we have published a
lot of important information about the activities of the US government and other
countries over the years but the counter-reaction—the assault on us—reveals much
about how governments and contemporary politics work.

The US government is trying to erect a new interpretation of what it means to be
a journalist. It wants any communications with a source to be viewed legally as
a conspiracy. In other words, it wants journalists to be completely passive
receptacles for others. But this is simply not how national security journalism
has been traditionally done. If they succeed, it will be the end of national
security journalism in the West as we know it.

These attacks on us have also been picked up by other countries and used to
legitimise their own crackdowns. For example, two Swedish journalists are
currently being jailed in Ethiopia. They were investigating a Swedish oil
company by the name of Lundin—Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt had previously
been a director of the company—but have been sentenced to 11 years jail in
Ethiopia on terrorism charges. The Ethiopian prime minister says that it is
perfectly acceptable to treat journalists this way and has pointed to my
circumstances as justification.

The issues facing WikiLeaks are entirely political and therefore a matter of
public concern. My message to people everywhere is: do not wait until WikiLeaks
is bankrupted or its members extradited to the United States before acting. It
will be too late then. If people act strongly now, then the organisation will
succeed. WikiLeaks has a lot of support and we’re battle hardened now. We’re not
going down without a fight and if everyone pulls together then we will win.

The author also recommends:

Further evidence of secret US indictment of Julian Assange
[1 March 2012]

Bradley Manning and the attack on democratic rights
[19 December 2011]

Mother of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, speaks with the WSWS
[26 November 2011]

Oppose the extradition of Julian Assange
[7 November 2011]

http://wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/jass-m16.shtml