Julian Assange - WikiLeaks (41 page)

Assange began a crusade against the forces of manipulation and its web of lies. He led the battle with his WikiLeaks team. His weapons are sources of information and the Internet. Today, he's counting on himself to confront the last legal battle.

Whether a god, mythical character, or man, a hero discovers his own duality during his journey. Julian is a being of light and dark who, “has to submit and accept that his person and his opposite are not different, but make up a single body.”

The man can be judged, even be condemnable, if the actions he's committed at the personal level turn out to be wrongful. However, in the event he's found guilty, we can't deny what his actions can offer the world: an idea of the truth, a belief that freedom of expression frees people from enslavement.

Politicians talk to us about courage when referring to the sacrifices we have to make to confront crises affecting our societies. Julian Assange talks to us about courage in our thoughts in order to build a better world; courage in our actions to maintain our freedom and in our thinking to face reality head on; even courage in our own humanity to face our position in the society we've created. Finding our individual truth as a part of the truth that he's suggesting we can undress.

Many people simply say he's not a better man than any other. The tabloid press and vindictive collaborators describe him as a “cat teaser who likes pretty young girls.” We refuse to believe that these voices will be heard any louder over the sound of his ideology, as others also carry the torches of freedom of information. We refuse to believe that only the twists and turns of the ‘Swedish affair' are what people want to hear, which is why we chose to finish our writing about his time in prison in December 2010.

Finally, it's up to each individual to choose which echo of Julian's story he or she wants to hear.

“I would also like to say that our work with WikiLeaks continues unabated and we are stepping up our publishing for matters relating to ‘Cablegate' and other materials.”

This is what Julian Assange said when he left Belmarsh court in London on January 11 2011. Journalists from around the world had crammed into the room to attend this preliminary hearing, which lasted a whole ten minutes, common in such cases. Over the next few weeks, the British court was to decide whether the founder of WikiLeaks should be extradited to Sweden or not within the scope of rape and sexual aggression allegations made against him.

A two-day hearing about this extradition request was held on February 7 and 8 2011, conform to the European arrest warrant. A last hearing was held on February 11 2011, so that both parties had time to submit their conclusions.

The legal saga continued. Judge Howard Riddle was charged to examine the case. Julian firmly denied the allegations made against him and fought to avoid being tried in Sweden.

The group of lawyers Finers Stephens Innocent LLP began asking for donations. A page was created to this end on Facebook. The money raised would cover the legal fees, while any money
left over would be given to charities that promote freedom of expression.

Australian-born British lawyer Geoffrey Robertson joined Julian's defense team, a legal eagle chosen by Julian to represent him once he was out of prison in December 2010. A human rights defender, Robertson is known for having defended hyped up cases like those of Salman Rushdie, a British author of Indian origin at the forefront of freedom of expression.

The strategy of Julian Assange's defense team was aggressive and audacious. Using some fifteen different arguments, the members tried to convince the judge not to send their client in front of a Swedish court. They first attacked the hypothetical link between Stockholm and Washington. Sweden might intend to deliver Julian to the United States in a plan to silence him. He also feared being killed if he were to end up in an American prison.

According to the defense, his extradition to Sweden would open the door to sending their client to the United States, where he risks imprisonment at Guantanamo or a death sentence for treason. However, always according to his lawyers, a penal investigation has been open since the summer of 2010 and the Obama administration is currently looking for a legal angle in American law to bring up charges against the founder of WikiLeaks.

Australia, Julian's home country and an ally of the United States, has remained discrete, diplomatically speaking, while public opinion is clearly on his side. In December 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that WikiLeaks' actions were illegal without actually being able to prove it. Today the Australian government has completely distanced itself from their citizen, as no diplomatic protest exists to this day, either in Sweden or in the United States.

Julian's mother deplores that the Minister of Foreign Affairs didn't respect its promise of offering diplomatic assistance to her son as an Australian citizen. However, Julian is impatient to get back to Melbourne. He has asked his country to take measures for his repatriation in order to protect him and his team. Victim of political maneuvers, Julian is convinced that Ms. Gillard is secretly providing information about him to the American authorities.

The defense continued its arguments of invalidity regarding the rape accusations. Since the beginning of the affair in August, Julian has kept insisting that both women had consensual sex with him. Moreover, in Great Britain, the facts blamed on Julian are not at all defined in the same way as they are in Sweden. The defense team continued to insist on the fact that a trial there would be prejudicial to their client, because rape cases are heard behind closed doors, therefore Julian could not possibly get a fair trial.

Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny was highly criticized during these proceedings. According to the defense, the European arrest warrant is invalid and the judge was not authorized to honor it.

Furthermore, Björn Hurtig accused the police and the Swedish court of leaking information to the media since August of 2010. Sven-Erik Alhem, former Swedish prosecutor was astonished that Julian Assange's name was put on public display before being accused of anything. Extradition is unnecessary, as Swedish justice only wanted to question him.

Smart tactic by Mr. Robertson to avoid extradition: quoting the comments made by Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt that are prejudicial to his client. The lawyer spoke of a toxic atmosphere in Sweden where Julian Assange is seen today as Public Enemy Number One. It's that kind of shameful behavior that ruins any chances of their client getting a fair trial if he were
to be extradited to Sweden. In every country the legal realm is separated from the political realm, but apparently that's not the case in Sweden, the defense argues.

The Swedish Prime Minister deplored the defense lawyers taking so little consideration of women's rights in their arguments and points of view. Annoyed, he answered sharply to the suggestion of a plot with the United States. Mr. Reinfeldt regrets the way in which Julian's defense presents his country's justice system, as the legal system is in fact independent. He disagreed with the insinuations that Julian's rights would be ignored if he were extradited. According to him it's a lawyer tactic to be condescending towards the legal system of another country in order to defend their client.

Julian appeared relaxed throughout the three days of his hearings. He thought that the arguments shed some light on the unjust character of the European arrest warrants system and the Swedish police and justice methods. He complained that he never had a chance to tell his version of the facts and that the arguments were limited to procedural ones. For ages it has been announced that he'd reveal a new barrage of secret documents if his site were to close permanently.

The hearing was adjourned until February 24 2011 at which time Judge Riddle had to hand his verdict on the extradition of Julian to Sweden. That day, the green light was given: the judge ordered the extradition of the Australian to Sweden. At the end of a short hearing, Riddle felt that the allegations of sexual assault and rape were serious enough to justify extradition. According to him, the procedure followed by the Swedish authorities was standard and no errors were made in issuing the arrest warrant. Riddle confirmed that Julian would have a fair trial in Sweden, emphasizing the mutual respect and confidence of the British
court toward other European courts. The verdict ordered the extradition of Assange to Sweden within the next ten days.

After three months of procedures since released from prison, Julian, dressed in a dark suit and tie, didn't flinch when he heard the verdict. The defense team led by Mr. Robertson has appealed the verdict in front of the High Court in London.

Their client has again formally denied any accusations. The judge did however state that Julian deliberately had sex with one of the two Swedish women while she was asleep, which in Great Britain is akin to rape.

All kinds of recourses are still possible. The Assange team has seven days, as of February 24 2011, to file an appeal. Public Enemy Number One will then appear in front of Appellate Court, Supreme Court, and finally, the European Court of Human Rights.

There are many months of procedures to come, as there's a long legal battle ahead.

1
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an American mythologist famous for his thoughts on heroes, their motivations, their success as well as their mistakes.

2
Source: The World's Most Wanted House Guest by Vaughan Smith published by “The Telegraph” and on the Frontline Club website (16/12/2010).

3
FB: Facebook.

4
‘Nerd' in leet speak. Leet speak is a partially coded langage used on the Internet that replaces certain letters with numbers or signs that look like them.

5
This dialogue reflects Julian Assange's conspiracy theories.
http://iq.org/conspiracies.pdf
.

6
Idiot.

7
Stop.

8
Big ego.

9
Bulletin Board System: a server running software that acts as a virtual bulletin board.

10
Distributed Denial of Service.

11
No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

12
No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

13
A mufti is a interpreter of Islamic law.

14
‘Charlie' is the name given to the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong), referred to as ‘Victor Charlie' by American soldiers.

15
A collection of internal US war logs published by WikiLeaks.

16
No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

17
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a US private, non-profit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Founded in 1983, it is primarily funded through an annual allocation from the US Congress.

18
No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

19
Rocket-propelled grenade is a kind of bazooka.

20
US Navy lingo for Guantanamo.

21
Source : « contrebandiers de l'information de Jean Eudes » published in the French newspaper Le Monde.

22
Source : « contrebandiers de l'information de Jean Eudes » published by the Frensh newspaper Le Monde.

23
Source : « contrebandiers de l'information de Jean Eudes » published by the French newspaper Le Monde.

24
From Orsola Veille in Media.

25
From Orsola Veille in Media.

26
Source : « contrebandiers de l'information de Jean Eudes » published by the French newspaper Le Monde

27
Source : interview with Birgitta Jónsdóttir in
The National Post
. http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/15/qa-former-wikileaks-spokeswomanbirgittajónsdóttir/

28
Source : interview with Birgitta Jónsdóttir in
The National Post
. http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/15/qa-former-wikileaks-spokeswomanbirgittajónsdóttir/

29
« No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency » by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

30
« No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency » by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

31
« No secrets, Julian Assange's mission for a total transparency » by Raffi Khatchadourian on
www.newyorker.com
.

32
http://www.wikileaksdocument.com/most-dangerous-man-jacob-appelbaumafter-julian-assange-in-wikileaks-org-website.html.

33
Tron, American science fiction movie, directed by Steven Lisberger, en 1982. The film's hero is a hacker.

34
From website
www.cryptome.org

35
The
Federal Register
is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

36
Chapters 28 to 30 inspired by
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/nytimes-and-assange
/
New York Times: Assange Was a Source, Not Media Partner
By Kim Zetter
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/magazine/30Wikileaks-t.html
« Dealing With Assange and the Wikileaks Secrets »
By Bill Keller

1
Inspired by
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/02/the-guardian-201102
, par Sarah Ellison
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/jan/06/wikileaks-julian-assange
,
par Roy Greenslade
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110106/ts_yblog_thecutline
/
wikileaksassange-
threatened-to-sue-guardian-and-other-revelations, par Michael Calderone