Assange defends Leaks two yrs after ‘cablegate’
WASHINGTON, Dec 1, (AFP): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange vowed to keep exposing secret documents and defended his controversial website, two years after it published a massive trove of sensitive US diplomatic cables.
Marking the anniversary of “cablegate,” Assange alleged in a commentary published Thursday that his self-styled anti-secrecy website had uncovered US attempts to hide atrocities, coerce other governments and dominate the global economy.
“Since 2010, Western governments have tried to portray WikiLeaks as a terrorist organization, enabling a disproportionate response from both political figures and private institutions,” he wrote in the Huffington Post.
“It is the WikiLeaks’ can and have changed the world, but that change has clearly been for the better,” he said, citing some of the once secret State Department cables that his site disclosed.
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“Two years on, no claim of individual harm has been presented, and the examples (cables) above clearly show precisely who has blood on their hands.”
By exposing details of the deaths of Iraqi civilians and the corruption of the Tunisian regime, WikiLeaks had helped force the US military’s withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 and had fueled an uprising in Tunisia that spread across Arab countries, according to Assange.
Despite condemnation by the US government, the Australian ex-hacker said his organization would not shy away from divulging more secret documents and would combat attempts to block supporters from making online financial contributions to WikiLeaks.
“We will continue our fight against the financial blockade, and we will continue to publish.”
He said the leak of the diplomatic cables had confirmed press reports that the US was carrying out a covert bombing campaign against militants in Pakistan as well as drone strikes in Yemen, with the government there hiding the US role.
Assange’s commentary appeared as the army private accused of leaking the US documents to WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, testified for the first time at a pre-trial hearing after two years in detention.
Assange has been holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy for five months to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is facing allegations of rape and sexual assault, charges he strongly denies.
He says that if extradited, he could be handed over to the United States for prosecution.
Assange was arrested in 2010 after WikiLeaks enraged Washington earlier that year by leaking hun- dreds of thousands of classified US documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as embarrassing diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world.
Meanwhile, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa warned Friday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is at risk of deteriorating health if he remains holed up for much longer in Quito’s embassy in London.
In an exclusive interview in the Peruvian capital Lima, Correa said Assange’s health concerns could worsen dramatically if his now five-month long stay in the embassy goes on for much longer.
“I haven’t spoken with him since he arrived at our embassy, but the ambassador informed me that he is suffering from a slight problem in his lung — nothing too serious,” Correa, who was in Peru for a Latin American summit, told AFP.
“But there is still the danger that his physical and mental health could worsen, seeing that he is shut up in a small space, and unable to exercise in the fresh air. That would complicate the health situation of anyone,” Correa said.
Assange has been sheltering in Quito’s embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden on charges of rape and sexual assault, charges the Australian denies.
Assange fears that if he is extradited to Sweden, he eventually could be delivered to the United States for prosecution, where he could face a lengthy prison term or even the death sentence.
WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by leaking hundreds of thousands of classified US documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and embarrassing diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world.
Assange was arrested that same year in London but eventually was released on bail.
Ecuador granted Assange asylum on August 16, but Britain has refused to grant him safe passage out of the country — leaving the two governments in diplomatic deadlock and Assange stuck inside the embassy.
Talks to end the impasse have proved fruitless so far, but Correa said a breakthrough is still possible.
“We’re not negotiating on the basis of human rights — that term has not been used in this case. But there have been ongoing conversations” to resolve the case, he said.
“The solution to this problem is in the hands of Great Britain, Sweden and the European judicial authorities,” said Correa.
“If Britain gives him safe passage tomorrow, this whole thing is over,” he added.
Speaking about political matters back home, Correa left open the possibility that he will stand for a third consecutive presidential term.
“I have never been interested in political power, but situations where there is so much injustice, as with Ecuador’s socio-economic poverty, can only be fixed by political means,” said Correa, 49, whose term as Ecuador’s president is due to end in May.