MSNBC's Cenk Uygur interviews Julian Assange (VIDEO) √

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Maddow on Assange and Wikileaks

  • Maddow as Obama media courtier

    • Exclusive Julian Assange Interview With Cenk Uygur (Video)

    Wednesday 22 December 2010 | [print_link]

    Not long after that latest release, Assange found himself in legal trouble in Sweden. But not for any reasons having to do with the leaks. Instead, he was booked on a series of sex charges.

    With the help of people like the American filmmaker and activist, Michael Moore, Mr. Assange is now out on bail and speaking out to us.

    Julian, great to have you with us.

    JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: Good evening, Cenk.

    UYGUR: All right, the first question I have for you, Julian, is do you consider yourself a member of the press?

    Are you a journalist?

    So quite interesting that this is something that is being raised.

    Some of those journalists have fallen for that.

    And why?

    And in the meantime, what happens?

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    And we have seen a number of members of the mainstream press rightly stopping forward and understanding that there has to be a line drawn in the sand, that this erosion of the First Amendment must be stopped.

    UYGUR: Well, Julian, I want to get to as much as possible here. So I want to give you a chance to respond one by one to your critics.

    What sort of message does that send about the rule of law in the United States?

    How do you respond to Sarah Palin, a top Republican leader who might run for president again?

    That is incitement to commit murder. That is an offense. You cannot have senior people on national TV asking people to commit an offense.

    That is not a country that obeys the rule of law.

    Does the United States obey the rule of law?

    Because Europeans are starting to wonder whether it is still obeying the rule of law?

    And it needs to be very careful.

    Or do we take things according to laws expressly made by the people and their representatives?

    Do you think Private Manning is, one, a hero?

    And, number two, do you think the American government is treating him wrong by keeping him in isolation for so long?

    They do actually ring up their sources and say, do you have anything on this?

    That is how they operate.

    And they need to understand another thing, that in this case of Bradley Manning, his conditions have been getting worse and worse and worse in his cell as they attempt to pressure him into testifying against me.

    UYGUR: Right. Right, Julian.

    Thank you for joining us.

    ASSANGE: All right.

    Merry Christmas.

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    WikiLeaks's founder defends himself

    Don’t shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths

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    OpEd by Julian Assange 12.8.10  [print_link]


    Nearly a century later, WikiLeaks is also fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public.

    I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. They distrusted big government as something that could be corrupted if not watched carefully. The dark days of corruption in the Queensland government before the Fitzgerald inquiry are testimony to what happens when the politicians gag the media from reporting the truth.

    These things have stayed with me. WikiLeaks was created around these core values. The idea, conceived in Australia, was to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth.

    WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?

    Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.

    People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars. But there is nothing more wrong than a government lying to its people about those wars, then asking these same citizens to put their lives and their taxes on the line for those lies. If a war is justified, then tell the truth and the people will decide whether to support it.

    If you have read any of the Afghan or Iraq war logs, any of the US embassy cables or any of the stories about the things WikiLeaks has reported, consider how important it is for all media to be able to report these things freely.

    And Australians should observe with no pride the disgraceful pandering to these sentiments by Julia Gillard and her government. The powers of the Australian government appear to be fully at the disposal of the US as to whether to cancel my Australian passport, or to spy on or harassWikiLeaks supporters. The Australian Attorney-General is doing everything he can to help a US investigation clearly directed at framing Australian citizens and shipping them to the US.

    Prime Minister Gillard and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not had a word of criticism for the other media organisations. That is because The Guardian, and The New York TimesDer Spiegel are old and large, whileWikiLeaks is as yet young and small.

    Has there been any response from the Australian government to the numerous public threats of violence against me and other WikiLeaks personnel? One might have thought an Australian prime minister would be defending her citizens against such things, but there have only been wholly unsubstantiated claims of illegality. The Prime Minister and especially the Attorney-General are meant to carry out their duties with dignity and above the fray. Rest assured, these two mean to save their own skins. They will not.

    It is neither. WikiLeaks has a four-year publishing history. During that time we have changed whole governments, but not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed. But the US, with Australian government connivance, has killed thousands in the past few months alone.

    But our publications have been far from unimportant. The US diplomatic cables reveal some startling facts:

    ► The US asked its diplomats to steal personal human material and information from UN officials and human rights groups, including DNA, fingerprints, iris scans, credit card numbers, internet passwords and ID photos, in violation of international treaties. Presumably Australian UN diplomats may be targeted, too.

    ► King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia asked the US to attack Iran.

    ► Sweden is a covert member of NATO and US intelligence sharing is kept from parliament.

    ► The US is playing hardball to get other countries to take freed detainees from Guantanamo Bay.


    Barack Obama agreed to meet the Slovenian President only if Slovenia took a prisoner. Our Pacific neighbour Kiribati was offered millions of dollars to accept detainees.

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