Defend WikiLeaks: A New Year’s Message

(Published in: 2012-01-01 WikiLeaks News | WL Central)

2011 ended with the alarming approval of the National Defense Authorization Act by the US Congress, which places ultimate authority on the President of the United States to decide on the indefinite military detention of terrorism suspects worldwide. The bill was signed on New Year’s Eve, a festive occasion, its strategic timing reminiscent of the date set for Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearing, which also took place during last year’s holiday season.

As of the 1st of 2012:

WikiLeaks: 394 days of banking blockade - no process
Assange: 391 days of detainment without charge
Manning: 588 days in military jail

Efforts to impede the work of WikiLeaks continue. Julian Assange and Bradley Manning have been detained for well over a year, and WikiLeaks is still operating under unlawful financial embargo, imposed by major banking companies at request of the US Government. It is also worth noting that two of these companies (VISA and Mastercard) currently refusing to process funds to WikiLeaks, controversially channel donations to white supremacist groups that encourage and/or perpetrate violent acts, such as the KKK, English Defence League and Aryan Nations.

Further, the pre-trial of Bradley Manning, that finally took place last month, made clear how determined prosecution is to link Manning to Julian Assange (even recurring to the presentation of chat logs as evidence in court, despite it being impossible to accurately determine users’ identities). The risk of extradition to the US for Julian Assange is increasingly evident as are the efforts to prosecute WikiLeaks.

By releasing information to the public exposing Government abuses and corruption, WikiLeaks and its volunteers risk their freedom to provide us with means to defend our rights. WikiLeaks pays service to all of us and it is us, the people, who risk to be silenced when its existence and that of future whistleblowing organizations is threatened.
It is clear that if our freedoms are to be preserved, action must be taken to protect WikiLeaks. To facilitate this, the Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL) network was created and is soon to be completely launched,

wlfriends.org

Please join, and also find out about other ways you can support WikiLeaks.
Action to defend freedom of speech and information will prove decisive throughout the New Year.