Assange about WikiLeaks and Transparency

Source: http://www.n24.de/news/newsitem_7222104.html Julian Assange held the Media responsible for the data leak at WikiLeaks. In a keynote at the MEDIENWOCHE@IFA11 (media week) Assange states his view on the events. Julian Assange is both a superstar and a controversial person. This Tuesday the founder of the leaking platform WikiLeaks filled the hall 3 at the Berlin congress center. And Assange dictates the conditions: he reads off paper and faces some questions by a moderating journalist, but not by the audience. He bans video- and audio recordings. Those who want to listen to him have to turn off their mobiles. Assange starts to nourish additional conspiracy theories. Australia for instance initiated extensive investigations against him which include last but not least also intelligences. "That reaction only occurred because Im an Australian citizen. We do not publish in Australia, I was not in Australia. Our servers to receive information are not in Australia, Assange says. (Translators note: quote provided by N24 would be translated back into English: That doesnt happen because wed publish in Australia or our servers would be in Australia, Assange says, This only happens because Im an Australian citizen.) This would show how much influence the USA actually exercises onto Australia.

Assange still under house arrest

Those who listen to Assange can only see him on a video screen. Assange connects from a country house near London to the Funkturm Berlin. Because the police currently dictate him where he has to be: he is under house arrest, now already for around nine months. Assange waits for the things to come until a London court decides about his extradition to Sweden. There investigators accuse him of sexual assault. Assange uses the opportunity to go on talking about the the connection between political, intelligence, military and financial power (Translators note: quote provide by N24: the connection between political, intelligence and financial power). Around 90 percent of all income of his platform is destroyed because credit card companies hold back donations. [Full quote] You can for instance donate to the KKK, the Ku-Klux-Klan, through Visa, MasterCard and Paypal. You can buy any sort of pornography you want. You can buy even torture tools in various countries around the world and have them exported to you using Visa and MasterCard, but you cannot support a free speech organization, he criticizes. (Translators Note: quote provided by N24: You can transfer money to the Ku-Klux-Klan, but not to us, an organization engaged in freedom of speech)

"Somebody from Berlin" circulated the cables password

In between Assange drinks out of a cup. Black on white in huge letters Frontline is visibly printed on it. Assange fights, right now for the credibility of WikiLeaks and therefore of his own. In the last days he causes the publication of more than 250 000 cables of the US

embassies, unredacted and with this with names WikiLeaks didnt want to circulate in order to protect them. The leaking platform and with it also its enigmatic founder are exposed to massive criticism since then. In essence its about Assange handing over the sensitive data himself once to third parties like the British Guardian, including the needed password. The material started to rotate in the net. At last a reporter published the password, also somebody from Berlin, Assange added. The publishing took the bull by the horns in his eyes. To the question about if he is pleased with the incident Assange answers coolly: He didnt have a choice. At that time task forces of the Pentagon and CIA aimed for the destruction of the material," Assange says. If we wouldnt have taken the risk there might have been no publishing at all. (Translators note: the questions are not in the vid, so I cant give an original quote :-/) At the end almost everybody in the hall applauded. It seems as if at least the hype around Julian Assange appears as strong as before despite all problems.