2012-04-25 #WikiLeaks News Update: Manning's motion hearings; "World Tomorrow" Episode 2; Other news




WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 508 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 505 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 702 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 588 days.

WikiLeaks News:

  • One year ago today, WikiLeaks released The Gitmo Files, thousands of documents detailing 765 of the 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay.
  • Stratfor emails released by WikiLeaks reveal an anti-Obama prejudice within the company, with Vice President Fred Burton often referring to him as "Barry Hussein."
  • Blogger Peter Knight has written seven articles correcting recent smears against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange from various media outlets.


Julian Assange News:

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  • The second episode of "The World Tomorrow" premiered, featuring guests David Horowitz and Slavoj Žižek. Watch the full episode below or at RT's website. Transcript is also available.
  • RT analysed how some media organizations which previously praised Julian Assange are now vehemently attacking him after the premiere of his television show.
  • An article in Nyheter24 looks at how, after three months, the Supreme Court has yet to give a verdict in the Assange case. Swedish Law Professor Joakim Nergelius commented that the Swedish prosecution has made a mistake by refusing to question Assange in London.
  • Jacob Appelbaum tweeted that he took the two photos of Julian Assange which mysteriously went up on display a few days ago at the Whitney Museum in New York.


Bradley Manning News:

  • Bradley Manning's next set of motion hearings began today. The proceedings are expected to last three days. Here are the major developments:

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    • The U.S. Government must release its assessments on how much damage WikiLeaks' publications have caused. These will be viewed in secret by the judge.
    • The defense presented two new motions. One was to dismiss all charges against Manning with prejudice. The second was requesting materials from the secret WikiLeaks grand jury.
    • Bradley Manning requested the two military lawyers assigned to him be removed and replaced with Capt. Joshua Tooman. No reason for this change was given.
    • The judge denied the press and public any additional access to court filings. This comes after the Center for Constitutional Rights renewed its request for further access to documents from the hearings.
    • The proceedings will continue tomorrow at 10AM.
    • For in-depth coverage of today's hearing, see Kevin Gosztola's live-blog at Firedoglake.
  • Michael Ratner, attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and legal adviser to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, has written an article detailing the immense secrecy surrounding Bradley Manning's trial.
  • Graham Hnatiuk is auctioning off a mixed-media painting he created. All proceeds will go to Bradley Manning's defense fund. The auction runs until May 11, 2012.



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Upcoming Dates & Events:

April 25-28: Performances of "The Radicalization of Bradley Manning" held between these dates in schools across Wales.

April 25-26: Bradley Manning's next set of pre-trial hearings. Support events planned worldwide.

April 27-28: Kristinn Hrafnsson to speak at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy at panels "Whistleblowers and anonymous leaks: can the media do without them?" (27/4) and "Dossier WikiLeaks. Segreti italiani" (28/4).

May 23: Julian Assange to speak at Enterprise Information Management Congress 2012 in The Netherlands.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.