United States

Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government's National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist's camera.

I shared with the world evidence proving some governments are building a world-wide surveillance system to secretly track how we live, who we talk to, and what we say.

I went in front of that camera with open eyes, knowing that the decision would cost me family and my home, and would risk my life. I was motivated by a belief that the citizens of the world deserve to understand the system in which they live.

Friday 29 November 2013, 12:00 GMT

In the face of the US government's three-year attack on WikiLeaks, an anonymous Department of Justice official talking to the Washington Post now claims that there is little possibility of prosecuting Julian Assange for publishing, but that a Grand Jury remains empanelled and the situation may change. So, we have a much-hedged statement by someone who cannot be identified claiming that the government may not indict Julian Assange for publishing. This is hardly the assurance that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange need. It is hardly the assurance that others who seek to reveal material that might offend the government need to carry on their activities. The damage to a free press by this heavy-handed, unwarranted and continued investigation into a publisher is severe.

Statement by WikiLeaks Publisher Julian Assange concerning Sweden's extradition of WikiLeaks consultant Gottfrid "Anakata" Svartholm Warg:

"It is time someone says it like it is: Gottfrid Svartholm Warg is a political prisoner and Sweden has fallen off the map of decent nations in its treatment of him. Gottfrid has always been ideologically driven to inform the world; he worked tirelessly to help WikiLeaks expose the slaughter of civilians in Iraq by a US helicopter gunship and was responsible for an important part of our infrastructure."

Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Jeremy Hammond and I'm here to be sentenced for hacking activities carried out during my involvement with Anonymous. I have been locked up at MCC for the past 20 months and have had a lot of time to think about how I would explain my actions.

Wednesday 6 November 2013, 18:30 CET

As a journalist I have spent the last four months with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and arrived in Germany over the weekend. I worked in Hong Kong as part of the WikiLeaks team that brokered a number of asylum offers for Snowden and negotiated his safe exit from Hong Kong to take up his legal right to seek asylum. I was travelling with him on our way to Latin America when the United States revoked his passport, stranding him in Russia. For the next 39 days I remained with him in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where I assisted in his legal application to 21 countries for asylum, including Germany, successfully securing his asylum in Russia despite substantial pressure by the United States. I then remained with him until our team was confident that he had established himself and was free from the interference of any government.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden met with German Green Party MP Hans-Christian Ströbele on 31 October regarding his being a witness for a possible investigation into NSA spying in Germany.

In an exclusive for the Sydney Morning Herald, Geoffrey Robertson has provided, from his new book published this week, an excerpt dealing with the "case" against Julian Assange.

This might be the most complete and most accurate summation yet.

In the US, we've increasingly seen attacks on the free press. Now, in the case of Barrett Brown, a journalist who's been jailed for the past year stands to lose his free speech.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

David Coombs, chief attorney for WikiLeaks whistle-blower Pfc. Bradley Manning, announced at a press conference near Ft. Meade, MD, today that he is formally applying for a Presidential Pardon for Bradley Manning. Coombs is seeking Manning's immediate release, or at the very least a commutation to a sentence of time already served.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WikiLeaks whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison today, an outrage that flies in the face of America's essential ideals of accountability in government, and which seeks to instill a chilling effect on those who'd dare to expose the United States' illegality.

Ft Meade: Colonel Denise Lind sentenced Bradley Manning to 35 years prison.

What: David Coombs to give statement and take questions
When: 3 hours after court closes following sentencing tomorrow, approximately 1:30 PM
Where: The Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7795 Arundel Mills Blvd, Hanover, MD 21076
Notes: Free parking in the hotel's parking structure, 2nd Floor Conference Room

David Coombs, lead attorney for WikiLeaks whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning, will give a statement and answer questions from the press, three hours after military judge Colonel Denise Lind delivers Manning's sentence. Today, Judge Lind announced that she would deliver her sentence at 10:00 AM, so the press conference will start at approximately 1:30 PM.

Edward Snowden has issued a statement to the Huffington Post regarding confusion about his current situation, and Julian Assange has spoken with Australia's The Age in the same vein.

Today Bradley Manning reportedly made a statement of remorse in a sentencing hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland. Manning's statement comes towards the end of a court martial trial pursued with unprecedented prosecutorial zeal.

On Friday 9 August 2013, US President Barack Obama addressed the world through a live feed at the White House website. Several topics were discussed, but the main topic - the obvious reason for the address - was of course the revelations about illegal NSA surveillance programmes. Today Julian Assange responds.

When: Sunday, August 4, 2013 from 3 to 5:30pm
Where: Friends Meeting House of DC, 2111 Florida Ave, NW, Washington DC (Enter via Phelps Street gate)

When: Sunday, August 4, 2013 from 3 to 5:30pm

Where: Friends Meeting House of DC
2111 Florida Ave, NW, Washington DC

1 August 2013, 16:00 UTC

Today, Thursday 1st August at 15:50 MSK, Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia. He left Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow with WikiLeaks staffer and legal advisor Sarah Harrison who has accompanied him during his 39 day stay in the transit zone and continues to do so. Ms Harrison has remained with Mr Snowden at all times to protect his safety and security, including during his exit from Hong Kong. They departed from the airport together in a taxi and are headed to a secure, confidential place.

On Friday afternoon demonstrators marched and blocked the gates of Ft McNair in Washington DC at the office of Maj Gen Jeffrey S Buchanan, Convening Authority for whistleblower Bradley Manning's trial. They carried a large painted version of the van from the Collateral Murder video, a 60-foot US Constitution bearing a "classified" stamp, and both balloons and a 20-foot banner inscribed with the message "Maj Gen Buchanan, Do the Right Thing, Free Bradley Manning".

Welcome to the age where copying and pasting a link can land you in jail. In a case that threatens the future of information sharing and journalism, Barrett Brown is facing up to 105 years in prison for sharing a link from one chatroom to another in the course of research he was doing as a journalist.