In this Democracy Now! Special, filmed in July 2014, we go inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to interview Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange. At the time, he’d been holed up there for more than two years, having received political asylum from that South American nation. This interview and the story’s entire background is a fascinating investigation of laws, jurisdictions and how laws are bent and how justice is an imaginary concept.
He’s still there, having now been detained in a variety of locations, without charge, for going on 5 years.
However, he’s proud to say that WikiLeaks lives on, despite the fact that the organization cannot receive payments via Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union.
Whatever opinions one may have about this man, this banking blockade of WikiLeaks is outside of any accountable, public process. It is without democratic oversight or transparency. The US government, itself found that there were no lawful grounds to add WikiLeaks to a US financial blockade, yet it continues. Due to this NGO’s extensively diminished resources, this unlawful blockade has become the focal point of their legal actions.
As stated on their website: “If this financial attack stands unchallenged, a dangerous, oppressive and undemocratic precedent will
have been set, the implications of which go far beyond WikiLeaks and its work. Any organization that falls afoul of powerful finance companies or their political allies can expect similar extrajudicial action.”
Assange, himself faces investigations in both Sweden and the United States and describes the labyrinthine and tenuous nature of the claims made against him by the Swedish government to interviewer, Amy Goodman.
He also discusses the ongoing Grand Jury probe in the United States, and WikiLeaks’ efforts to assist National Security Agency
whistleblower, Edward Snowden.
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