Assange - June 2013 - Video & Lateline Transcript

Video Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyNdtXBMhHM  SOURCE http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3778712.htm Assange Lateline Transcript Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 10/06/2013 Reporter: Emma Alberici EXTRACTS ONLY Transcript [ ... ] Julian Assange, welcome to Lateline. JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: Thank you. EMMA ALBERICI: We'll get to your political ambitions shortly. Let's begin though with Bradley Manning and the charge that he aided the enemy. When you published the documents he gave you, didn't it occur to you that you might be compromising American and allied military operations in the release of that information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, there's been a lot of speculation and rumours about that by the yellow press. But the fact is not even the Pentagon alleges that a single person came to harm as a result of any of our publications anywhere in the world, and in fact, no other government agency does either. It is not a matter in this case. That's one of the disturbing aspects about the Bradley Manning case, is that they have forbidden the defence to table any evidence whatsoever that no-one came to harm and the prosecution is not going to table any evidence - because there isn't any - that anyone did come to harm. EMMA ALBERICI: We've learnt that a Navy SEAL found WikiLeaks documents at the Pakistan compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. Presumably you knew it was possible, even probable, that those documents would be read by al-Qaeda, sensitive documents you were releasing. JULIAN ASSANGE: Well I am sure al-Qaeda reads the New York Times. He mentioned that he read Bob Woodward books. He probably has People, maybe even Who Magazine, possibly even Dr Seuss laying around his compound. So what? There's no allegation that al-Qaeda was in any way aided by the publications that we published. Despite the fact, despite the fact that Bradley Manning has been charged with aiding the enemy, a capital offence, the judge in this case has said that the prosecution does not need to show that al-Qaeda was aided in any way whatsoever and the prosecution doesn't allege that al-Qaeda was. All they intend to show is that al-Qaeda had our publications just like everyone else in the world. EMMA ALBERICI: How can you be 100 per cent certain that information you've released hasn't contributed to at the very least an atmosphere of mistrust between the US and others? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, look, the United States' behaviour is what has led to an atmosphere of distrust. People should not trust the United States military industrial complex. Of course they shouldn't. We've seen abuse after abuse. In fact [WikiLeaks] revealed that the United States military, the Pentagon has been involved in the killing, directly or indirectly, according to its own records, of 129,000 people. Now that wasn't simply in aggregate in Iraq or in aggregate in Afghanistan. That was the individual death records and their locations and what military units were involved in those two countries. That's what we documented. EMMA ALBERICI: So it doesn't matter to you if you did contribute to a sense of acrimony between the US and other countries? JULIAN ASSANGE: It does matter; in fact it's very important that the level of trust is proportionate to the level of behaviour. So it's been an extremely important thing that - for example, that Australians do not trust speculative military adventures in Central Asia. Of course it is. EMMA ALBERICI: One of the key charges levelled against you is that you released that massive volume of material with scant regard for the consequences. Certainly Julia Gillard has said that there was no moral purpose to what you were doing. JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, you know, the Senate has twice demanded that Julia Gillard apologise for her statements. Twice they have passed that resolution. Julia Gillard's libellous statements are made outside of Parliament. She's only saved by the statute of limitations. Have resulted in a banking blockade against an Australian publisher. They've also resulted in the Bank of America refusing to send a payment to WikiLeaks, the Australian political organisation. Julia Gillard has a lot to be responsible for in terms of her libellous comments. If we go to our publications - well not even NATO in Kabul, as it said to CNN, could find a single person in need of protection. So this is all yellow press hype. The Government doesn't allege it. NATO has even looked into the speculative component and says that there's nothing. EMMA ALBERICI: You've been in the Ecuadorian embassy for a year now. How much longer do you expect to be there? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well it's an interesting question. The situation is very interesting. But, you know, I'm quite optimistic. The support for WikiLeaks as an organisation increases. [...] And I think the lies and fictions of Bob Carr, for example, are now well and truly over. Even his office is now speaking about the grand jury in the United States. We've seen in the Bradley Manning trial this week, the intent and focus of the United States Government to go after [WikiLeaks]. And they're aware that this organisation and people like it and our values are forming a new body politic and people like Edward Snowden are part of that phenomena. EMMA ALBERICI: We will discuss Edward Snowden, but before that I wanted to ask you how much contact you're having with the Australian High Commission there in London. JULIAN ASSANGE: Yeah, so that's actually - it's remarkable to look at the statements made by the Foreign Minister, but other Australians who have been in difficult situations will tell you it's all exactly the same. So, I have not met anyone from any consulate, any Australian Government official since 2010, since I was in prison. In the time that I've been in this embassy here - we laugh about it, that once a month, there will be a tick-the-box call to the consul here saying, "Well, how's Mr Assange?" And, well, my response is, "Well, what's your offer?" The last time that they offered some medical assistance to the Ecuadorian Government - the only concrete offer that they ever put on the table - the Ecuadorian consul went to meet with the Australian consul, completely utterly wasted his time. The result of that was, "Well, here you are, here's a list of doctors in London." A list of doctors that the Australian Government is going to pay for? "No." Nothing, nothing at all. Just a list of doctors that I should never, ever go to, apparently. Because, in fact, all that the so-called consular support is doing here is it's simply collecting political intelligence for Bob Carr. There's an Australian member - there's a DFAT member sitting in on the Bradley Manning case. There has been for about six months, secretly sitting there, recording notes. Are those notes passed on to our legal team? Absolutely not. They produce briefing notes for Bob Carr so he can set up his press lines. So actually, so-called consular support for me and for many other Australians in similar situations, what it's actually about is collecting political intelligence for the minister to set up their press lines, so it's really a type of corruption where money that should be spent on actual consular support is simply spent on producing press releases for the Foreign Minister to make it look like he gives a damn about Australians. As we know, he doesn't give a damn about Australians at all. Since the 1970s he's been in bed with the US. Even as a union leader he was having multiple meetings with the US embassy. EMMA ALBERICI: I know you say that the last real contact you had was 2010. What advice have they given you about your predicament? JULIAN ASSANGE: They have given no advice, nothing at all. No advice, no information, nothing whatsoever. Not me, not to my lawyers, nothing. You see these absurd claims by Bob Carr saying that there's been, I don't know, 87 consular contacts. They include just calling, just this tick-a-box call procedure. No information whatsoever. We asked, "Can the Australian consul give me a passport?," for example. "No." The absurd response is, "Well just come down to the Australian consulate." It's a joke. I mean, they insult the Ecuadorians with this sort of behaviour. They insult me. They insult all of Australia with this sort of behaviour. EMMA ALBERICI: And is that the basis for your pitch for election to the Australian Senate? JULIAN ASSANGE: [...] You know, we went toe-to-toe with the Pentagon, we've gone toe-to-toe with many other corrupt states. Canberra is a corrupt little mini-state. We all know that. There's a corruption of purpose. We elect people, we send them to Canberra to represent Australians, to represent Australians to the bureaucracy, to hold the bureaucracy to account, to represent Australian interests overseas. And yet we have people like Bob Carr and Julia Gillard representing mining industries, representing Macquarie Bank, representing their long-lost American pals. That is not acceptable. EMMA ALBERICI: Well how do you expect to represent the people of Victoria when you're locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and you're wanted in Sweden on sexual assault allegations? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, you mention these in an inflammatory way. People should go to Justice4Assange.com and they can read all about your so-called allegations where even the women concerned say they had absolutely no intention to file any such formal allegations. This is a matter that has been taken by the Swedish state. That is admitted in the Supreme Court here on paper, it's admitted in the High Court here. This is matter taken by the Swedish state. So people should have a look at Justice4Assange.com. They can also look at the excellent Four Corners investigation into that entire episode.  EXTRACTS ONLY SOURCE http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3778712.htm Julian Assange Australian Journalist FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/ COMMENT The above is only extracts that I find interesting.  The entire transcript is available at the link provided. It's hard to say who's more despicable of the Australian political parties. Going by the video on ASIO, CIA, MI6 and Nugan Hand Bank, quietly fraternising with the Americans is standard in Australian politics.  One imagines the practice also continues with Australian intelligence, who appear to be the unelected government of the country (judging by the 1970s unseating of the democratically elected Whitlam government).  Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Australia is still run by the CIA ... which would explain a lot when it comes to the zero assistance Assange has had.  Let's face it, it's not likely the CIA deposed of an Australian Prime Minister in the 1970s, and just quietly went home afterwards. So, what does that say about Australia's nationhood, freedom, and democracy?  For those that haven't seen the video | here or below: ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état Whitlam Government Australia Source:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxVVWfRPiA   ꕤ

Julian Assange | Statement 20 December, 2012 | Christmas

Julian Assange December 20th, 2012 Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_Gy3UaHBXo&feature=youtu.be ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Statement https://wikileaks.org/Statement-by-Julian-Assange-after.html Statement by Julian Assange after Six Months in Ecuadorian Embassy Thursday December 20th, 19:00 GMT (updated 21:00 GMT) (Checked to delivery - published at 21:00 GMT) Good evening London. What a sight for sore eyes. People ask what gives me hope. Well, the answer is right here. Six months ago – 185 days ago – I entered this building. It has become my home, my office and my refuge. Thanks to the principled stance of the Ecuadorian government and the support of its people, I am safe in this embassy to speak to you. And every single day outside, for 185 days, people like you have watched over this embassy – come rain, hail and shine. Every single day. I came here in summer. It is winter now. I have been sustained by your solidarity and I’m grateful for the efforts of people all around the world supporting the work of WikiLeaks, supporting freedom of speech, freedom of the press, essential elements in any democracy. While my freedom is limited, at least I am still able to communicate this Christmas, unlike the 232 journalists who are in jail tonight. Unlike Gottfrid Svartholm in Sweden tonight. Unlike Jeremy Hammond in New York tonight. Unlike Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain tonight. And unlike Bradley Manning, who turned 25 this week, a young man who has maintained his dignity after spending more than 10 per cent of his life in jail, without trial, some of that time in a cage, naked and without his glasses. And unlike so many others whose plights are linked to my own. I salute these brave men and women. And I salute journalists and publications that have covered what continues to happen to these people, and to journalists who continue publishing the truth in face of persecution, prosecution and threat – who take journalism and publishing seriously. Because it is from the revelation of truth that all else follows. Our buildings can only be as tall as their bricks are strong. Our civilization is only as strong as its ideas are true. When our buildings are erected by the corrupt, when their cement is cut with dirt, when pristine steel is replaced by scrap – our buildings are not safe to live in. And when our media is corrupt, when our academics are timid, when our history is filled with half- truths and lies – our civilization will never be just. It will never reach to the sky. Our societies are intellectual shanty towns. Our beliefs about the world and each other have been created by the same system that has lied us into repeated wars that have killed millions. You can’t build a skyscraper out of plasticine. And you can’t build a just civilization out of ignorance and lies. We have to educate each other. We have to celebrate those who reveal the truth and denounce those who poison our ability to comprehend the world that we live in. The quality of our discourse is the limit of our civilization. But this generation has come to its feet and is revolutionizing the way we see the world. For the first time in history the people who are affected by history are its creators. And for other journalists and publications – your work speaks for itself, and so do your war crimes. I salute those who recognize the freedom of the press and the public’s right to know – recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, recognized in the First Amendment of the United States – we must recognize that these are in danger and need protection like never before. WikiLeaks is under a continuing Department of Justice investigation, and this fact has been recognized rightly by Ecuador and the governments of Latin America as one that materially endangers my life and my work. Asylum is not granted on a whim, but granted on facts. The U.S. investigation is referred to in testimony – under oath – in the U.S. courts, is admitted by the Department of Justice, and in the Washington Post just four days ago by the District Attorney of Virginia, as a fact. Its subpoenas are being litigated by our people in the U.S. courts. The Pentagon reissued its threats against me in September and claimed the very existence of WikiLeaks is an ongoing crime. My work will not be cowed. But while this immoral investigation continues, and while the Australian government will not defend the journalism and publishing of WikiLeaks, I must remain here. However, the door is open – and the door has always been open – for anyone who wishes to speak to me. Like you, I have not been charged with a crime. If you ever see spin that suggests otherwise, note this corruption of journalism and then go to justice4assange.com for the full facts. Tell the world the truth, and tell the world who lied to you. Despite the limitations, despite the extra-judicial banking blockade, which circles WikiLeaks like the Cuban embargo, despite an unprecedented criminal investigation and a campaign to damage and destroy my organization, 2012 has been a huge year. We have released nearly one million documents: Documents relating to the unfolding war in Syria. We have exposed the mass surveillance state in hundreds of documents from private intelligence companies. We have released information about the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere – the symbol of the corruption of the rule of law in the West, and beyond. We’ve won against the immoral blockade in the courts and in the European Parliament. After a two-year fight, contributions to WikiLeaks have gone from being blockaded and tax-deductible nowhere to being tax-deductible across the entirety of the European Union and the United States. And last week information revealed by WikiLeaks was vital – and cited in the judgment – in determining what really happened to El-Masri, an innocent European kidnapped and tortured by the CIA. Next year will be equally busy. WikiLeaks has already over a million documents being prepared to be released, documents that affect every country in the world. Every country in this world. And in Australia an unelected Senator will be replaced by one that is elected.  [Bob Carr, Labor Party Foreign Minister & Senate fill-in for Senator Mark Arbib (2008-2012), US Embassy secret informant - see below.  Note also:  "2007 bureaucrat spin doctors in Canberra were "outed" for editing Wikipedia entries critical of their bosses." lol] In 2013, we continue to stand up to bullies. The Ecuadorian government and the governments of Latin America have shown how co-operating through shared values can embolden governments to stand up to coercion and support self-determination. Their governments threaten no one, attack no one, send drones at no one. But together they stand strong and independent. The tired calls of Washington powerbrokers for economic sanctions against Ecuador, simply for defending my rights, are misguided and wrong. President Correa rightly said, "Ecuador’s principles are not for sale." We must unite together to defend the courageous people of Ecuador, to defend them against intervention in their economy and interference in their elections next year. The power of people speaking up and resisting together terrifies corrupt and undemocratic power. So much so that ordinary people here in the West are now the enemy of governments, an enemy to be watched, an enemy to be controlled and to be impoverished. True democracy is not the White House. True democracy is not Canberra. True democracy is the resistance of people, armed with the truth, against lies, from Tahrir to right here in London. Every day, ordinary people teach us that democracy is free speech and dissent. For once we, the people, stop speaking out and stop dissenting, once we are distracted or pacified, once we turn away from each other, we are no longer free. For true democracy is the sum – is the sum – of our resistance. If you don’t speak up – if you give up what is uniquely yours as a human being: if you surrender your consciousness, your independence, your sense of what is right and what is wrong, in other words – perhaps without knowing it, you become passive and controlled, unable to defend yourselves and those you love. People often ask, "What can I do?" The answer is not so difficult. Learn how the world works. Challenge the statements and intentions of those who seek to control us behind a facade of democracy and monarchy. Unite in common purpose and common principle to design, build, document, finance and defend. Learn. Challenge. Act. Now. SOURCE https://wikileaks.org/Statement-by-Julian-Assange-after.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Bob Carr Labor Party Australia Govt Minister for Foreign Affairs 2012 (Mar) - 2013 (Sep) Also Australian Senate Senator NSW (unelected) "In April 2013, Fairfax journalist Philip Dorling identified Carr from a searchable database of declassified US State Department diplomatic cables as having criticised the Whitlam Government and provided information on internal Labor Party politics during discussions with the American consul-general in Sydney during the early 1970s."  [Wikipedia] Bob Carr: Washington's man in Australia April 8, 2013 Philip Dorling http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bob-carr-washingtons-man-in-australia-20130408-2hgut.html Mark Arbib, aka CIA Agent 007 December 9, 2010    http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/mark-arbib-aka-cia-agent-007-20101208-18q50.html Arbib revealed as secret US source December 9, 2010 Philip Dorling http://www.smh.com.au/national/arbib-revealed-as-secret-us-source-20101208-18prg.html

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