Court reveals FBI still investigating WikiLeaks' Julian Assange
Date March 5, 2015 - 2:21PM - Philip Dorling
A United States court has confirmed that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is still being targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation more than five years after the anti-secrecy website's first publication of a secret diplomatic cable leaked by US soldier Chelsea Manning.
In a judgment handed down on March 4, 2015, US District Court judge Barbara Rothstein has stated that the FBI and the US Department of Justice are still pursuing an "ongoing criminal investigation of WikiLeaks" arising from the leaks of classified information by private Manning in early 2010.
In largely rejecting an application by the US Electronic Privacy Information Centre for release of documents under US freedom of information laws, Judge Rothstein accepted FBI and Justice Department claims that the disclosure of any information would prejudice a "multi-subject investigation" into WikiLeaks that is "still active and ongoing."
Judge Rothstein found that the FBI and Justice Department's National Security and Criminal Justice Divisions provided "sufficient specificity as to the status of the investigation, and sufficient explanation as to why the investigation is of long-term duration."
She also confirmed that the WikiLeaks investigation is "separate and distinct" from the investigation and prosecution of private Manning who was convicted by a US military court of espionage and other offences in July 2013 and sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment.
Judge Rothstein accepted claims by the FBI Justice Department that disclosure of any details about the investigation could "expose the scope and methods of the investigation, and tip-off subjects and other persons of investigative interest".
The judge said she gave "appropriate defence to the executive on issues of national security..."
In January it was revealed that that three journalists who have worked for WikiLeaks since 2010 – Sarah Harrison, Joseph Farrell and Kristinn Hrafnsson – had been informed by Google that all their Gmail account content, metadata, subscriber information, and other content were provided to US federal law enforcement in response to search warrants issued in March 2012.
US laws referenced in the search warrants related to espionage, conspiracy, theft of US government property and computer fraud and abuse.
WikiLeaks first published a US diplomatic cable leaked by Private Manning in February 2010. The anti-secrecy website subsequently published tens of thousands of secret documents covering US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and the conduct of US diplomacy.
Australian diplomatic cables released to Fairfax Media under freedom-of-information laws later revealed that in December 2010 senior Justice Department officials privately described the WikiLeaks investigation as "unprecedented in scale and nature".
Since June 2012, Mr Assange has lived at Ecuador's London embassy, where he has been granted political asylum by Ecuador on the grounds that he is at risk of extradition to the US to face espionage and conspiracy charges.
British police are on guard outside the embassy 24 hours a day, waiting to arrest Mr Assange so he can be extradited to Sweden to face questioning about sexual assault and rape allegations first raised in August 2010. Mr Assange's lawyers have advised that his extradition to Sweden could facilitate his extradition to the US.
A recent freedom of information application by Fairfax Media shows the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has largely given up reporting on Mr Assange's circumstances, with the Australian embassy in Washington mentioning WikiLeaks in only two brief diplomatic cables between November 2013 and January 2015.
One cable referred without comment to a Washington Post article in November 2013 that quoted unnamed US administration sources as saying that it would be difficult to bring espionage charges against Mr Assange, although no final decision had been taken.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/court-reveals-fbi-still-investigating-wikileaks-julian-assange-20150305-13vuwj.html?utm_source=FreeAssangeNow&utm_medium=Twitter
COMMENT
A frothing at the mouth USA launches an unprecedented investigation into the activities of publisher Julian Assange & WikiLeaks, following the 2010 publication of the whistleblower Chelsea Manning US classified information.
Lo and behold, by August-September 2010 (on the eve of publication of further US classified material - Iraq war logs), Sweden (long-time political, intelligence and military partner of the US) is suddenly pursuing WikiLeaks publisher, Assange, in relation to sexual assault related allegations.
Following an initial police investigation that was dismissed by a Swedish prosecutor and then quietly and mysteriously reactivated shortly thereafter by a Stockholm prosecutor, Sweden issued a dime-a-dozen European Arrest Warrant (see Sweden hypocritical 'concerns' re misuse of EAW for political persecution) and an Interpol Red Notice for the suspiciously convenient arrest of Assange.
Taking a look at the WikiLeaks releases timeline, it's obvious (to all but the disturbingly naive or wilfully stupid) that multiple US government agencies must have been frantically deployed to shut down WikiLeaks operations by any means.
By the time Sweden suddenly revived a tossed out allegations inquiry with which to pursue Assange, WikiLeaks had already enraged US government officials by publishing the explosive Manning material in April 2010, followed by publication of the Afghanistan war logs and announment of an imminent publication of the Iraq war logs:
WikiLeaks Timeline
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2006-2009
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Exposing government & corporate wrongdoing
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2010
(April)
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Manning material
incl.
VIDEO: Collateral Murder
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2010
(July)
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Afghanistan - war logs
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2010
(Oct)
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Iraq
- war logs
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With US determination to shut down the WikiLeaks organisation and to cripple all those associated with whistleblower publisher which exposed US wrongdoing, it's unsurprising that Assange's political asylum has been blocked by cooperative allied governments, hang the cost to the British taxpayer: https://govwaste.co.uk/
Let that be a terrifying warning to all journalists and would-be publishers of US secrets.
Five years on, the US is actively investigating the publisher and those associated with the organisation and citing 'national security' interests to block release of further information regarding their multi-subject investigation.
Declaring 'national security' is a government trump card for shutting down transparency and, basically, doing whatever the government officials choose to do, relieved of public scrutiny and therefore of accountability.
Meanwhile, journalists and others associated with the non-US publisher organisation are being harassed and intimidated by what surely must be yet another example of US government overreach, seeing the non-US organisation and people associated with it are beyond American borders and have not committed any crime within their own national jurisdictions.
Assange, in the meantime, has been deprived of liberty in Britain for over 4 years without charge and the Australian Foreign Affairs department has barely shown interest in Assange in the last year or so. Never mind fighting fearlessly for the freedom of an Aussie journalist-publisher by strongly (and publicly) condemning Sweden, Britain and United States, and challenging what is de facto detention and obvious political persecution of Julian Assange.
Israel Stands By Israelis / Australia Kowtows to America
Were Assange an Israeli citizen, there would be no keeping Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman from doing everything they possibly could do to protect their citizen, which is enough to make you want to be an Israeli.
Take Jonathan Pollard, US citizen convicted of spying for Israel and others, arrested 1987.
Pollard was a US navy analyst who sold information. Yet he was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995 and Israel has been doing everything it can to secure his release:
- 1998: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Pollard was an Israeli agent, handled by high-ranking officials of the Israeli Bureau for Scientific Relations (Lekem).
- The Israeli government ... continues to ask for his release.
- Benjamin Netanyahu has been particularly vocal in lobbying for Pollard's release, visiting Pollard in prison in 2002. Netanyahu raised the issue with President Bill Clinton during the Wye River peace talks in 1998.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard
Israel consistently and persistently stands by its own no matter what. Even over the passage of decades, regardless of a conviction for wrongdoing.
In contrast, Australia sits on its hands doing nothing while an Australian journalist and
publisher, who is has committed no offence, is trapped and deprived of liberty without charge,
for over 4 years.
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Julian Assange has committed no crime in Australia: AFP
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/julian-assange-has-committed-no-crime-in-australia-afp-20101220-190eb.html
December 20, 2010
Dylan Welch
Neither WikiLeaks nor its founder Julian Assange has committed any crime in Australia over the leaking of official United States government documents, the Australian Federal Police announced this afternoon.
This comes despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard labelling the actions of the group "illegal" two weeks ago.
A statement released by the federal police just before 1pm said: "The AFP has completed its evaluation of the material available and has not established the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction.
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Australian Times (UK) is a London publication for and by Aussies.
No idea who the author of the article in Australian Times (UK) is, but I rather liked the article and have linked it.
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SWEDEN - Hypocrisy
Selective Human Rights Concerns
SWEDEN - Gregorian Bivolaru Asylum / European Arrest Warrant (EAW)
In meetings 17th October [2013] in Brussels several Swedish MEPs expressed their concern and interest to work for the case, and the Romanian misuse of the European Arrest Warrant to pursue political persecution of the refugee Bivolaru.
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Blog post and link regarding the Gregorian Bivolaru matter in Sweden - here.
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EU-NATO IMPERIALISM ❌ 