Julian Assange is appealing his extradition to Sweden. (Credit: ABC.net.au) pirate bay, limewire
Today and tomorrow, Julian Assange is appealing an order for him to be extradited to Sweden .
The Associated Press noted that WikiLeaks hasn’t “Accepted any new material in months.” However, WikiLeaks did publish the Gitmo files, nearly 800 secret files from Guantanamo Bay, in the spring.
“Sweden Versus Assange”
A website called “Sweden Versus Assange” collects news and information about the case against Assange. It also will feature “live updates” of the appeal and tracks the number of days that Assange has been under house arrest.
According to the site, “The research has been commissioned by the Julian Assange Defence Fund’s (JADF) Committee to Defend Julian Assange.”
The site reminds that while Sweden wants to “investigate four allegations of sexual offences,” Assange hasn’t been charged with a crime. The site details the allegations and notes that if Assange loses this appeal, he may appeal again to the UK Supreme Court.
“If this action is also rejected, Julian Assange will be sent to Sweden within ten days of the extradition being agreed to by the UK court. Julian Assange may find himself in Sweden by the third week of August,” the site states. From there, the site claims “it is likely” he could be extradited to the U.S. and “may face the death penalty, torture or other inhumane and degrading treatment.”
The site also recommends a list of potential sources and “commentators” for reporting on Assange’s case.
New Legal Team
The Guardian noted that Assange has replaced Mark Stephens and Geoffrey Robertson who have previously represented him in court with Gareth Peirce and Ben Emmerson.
The Telegraph reported that Emmerson claimed in court today that the European arrest warrant for Assange isn’t legitimate and that it doesn’t give “‘a fair, accurate and proper’ description of the alleged sexual misconduct.”
Visa, Mastercard
Visa reportedly “closed a donation chanel to WikiLeaks after a payment processor briefly accepted money transfers to the anti-secrecy site.” DataCell, “WikiLeaks’ payment processor,” stated last week that the site could accept donations, but Visa claims that is “an accident.” MasterCard didn’t comment, according to the AP.
Reporters without Borders issued a statement criticizing the blockade. The press freedom group stated that it “deplores” and “denounces the economic censorship” on WikiLeaks. According to Reporters without Borders, WikiLeaks claims the block from Visa, Mastercard and other financial sites is costing WikiLeaks “donations averaging 130,000 euros a day.”
WikiLeaks-Like Sites
Earlier this month, WikiLeaks tweeted advice to other sites “inspired by WikiLeaks” that “it’s not as easy as it looks to keep such an operation live.” WikiLeaks tweeted that Localleaks.com and Hackerleaks.com have been “shutdown by registrar for undisclosed reasons.”
According to CNet.com, both HackerLeaks.tk and LocalLeaks.tk are run by hackers from the group Anonymous and were set up in late June. They are different sites from LocalLeaks.com.
LocalLeaks.TK re-directed to a site called LetsGoShopping.tk this morning. LocalLeaks.com was a dead domain. Hackerleaks.TK however was live.
OpenLeaks.org is still live. The site was launched in late January by former WikiLeaks-er, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, as StinkyJournalism previously reported.
Rudolph Elmer
iMediaEthics wrote in January when Swiss banker Rudolph Elmer gave Assange two banking discs that allegedly contained “the offshore bank account details of 2,000 ‘high net worth individuals’ and corporations — detailing massive potential tax evasion.”
But, Reuters reported recently that the two discs Elmer gave Assange had “no secret banking data at all,” according to “two of the banker’s associates.”
Reuters added that Elmer is “still being detained without charge while an investigation continues” into whether Elmer broke “Swiss banking law” in giving the CDs to Assange. Elmer was supposed to go to trial in late January for charges such as breaking Swiss bank secrecy laws and document forgery.
Reuters reported that “former Scotland Yard detective and bank compliance officer who helped put Elmer into contact with WikiLeaks and to organize the news conference,” Martin Woods, claimed Assange said one disc had nothing on it and the other had nothing related to banks.
See all of StinkyJournalism’s reports on WikiLeaks here.
Assange’s Birthday Party
Prior to the hearing, Assange held a “lavish birthday bash” for his 40th birthday July 10, the Atlantic Wire reported. Well — maybe. The Atlantic Wire distanced itself by stating “it’s unclear whether Assange even threw a party.”
The Atlantic Wire noted that Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, blogged about being invited to the party. Murray wrote that he is a WikiLeaks supporter, but criticized the invitation for providing information on “where to land your private plane or helicopter” to attend the party, but not how to get their by train.
“Nonetheless, I worry that the amusing fact that the invitation tells you where to land your private jet or helicopter, actually is an indication of where Wikileaks is going wrong.”
Murray added that ” There is an auction of donations to raise funds for his legal expenses, which I hope goes well – personal bids will establish a reserve price, and then the items will go on to eBay.”
Gawker posted a copy of what it says is the invitation here.
