Julian Assange on Bradley Manning and Political Payback

In the buildup to Julian Assange's run for the Australian senate, VICE was invited to the Ecuadorian embassy in London for a rare in-person interview. Our visit coincided with the conviction of Bradley Manning, the young US Army private whose alleged espionage put WikiLeaks on the map. Assange spoke to us about political payback, his plans for freeing the most famous whistle-blower in history, and why the world needs a WikiLeaks political party.

Bradley Manning Has Become a Martyr says Julian Assange

Bradley Manning Has Become a Martyr says Julian Assange


The sentencing hearing for Army whistleblower Bradley Manning begins today following his acquittal on the most serious charge he faced, aiding the enemy, but conviction on 20 other counts. On Tuesday, Manning was found guilty of violating the Espionage Act and other charges for leaking hundreds of thousands of government documents to WikiLeaks. In beating the "aiding the enemy" charge, Manning avoids an automatic life sentence, but he still faces a maximum of 136 years in prison on the remaining counts. In his first U.S. television interview since the verdict, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange discusses the Manning "show trial," the plight of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, and the verdict's impact on WikiLeaks. "Bradley Manning is now a martyr," Assange says. "He didn't choose to be a martyr. I don't think it's a proper way for activists to behave to choose to be martyrs, but these young men -- allegedly in the case of Bradley Manning and clearly in the case of Edward Snowden -- have risked their freedom, risked their lives, for all of us. That makes them heroes." According to numerous press reports, the conviction of Manning makes it increasingly likely that the U.S. will prosecute Assange as a co-conspirator. During the trial, military prosecutors portrayed Assange as an "information anarchist" who encouraged Manning to leak hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents.

Julian Assange Calls For Full Acquittal For Manning

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the espionage conviction of U.S. soldier Bradley Manning sets a dangerous precedent and must be reversed.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday (July 30) condemned a military court at Fort Meade for finding U.S. soldier Bradley Manning guilty of 19 charges relating to leaking official documents.

A military judge on Tuesday found Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge he faced for handing over documents to WikiLeaks.

He still likely faces a long jail term for the other counts.

Colonel Denise Lind ruled the 25-year-old Army private first class was guilty of five espionage charges, for the largest unauthorized release of classified U.S. data in the nation's history.

The trove of documents, including battlefield videos and diplomatic cables, was a huge boost to the profile of the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website and Assange.

Tuesday's verdict could be a blow to his efforts to encourage people with access to secret information to release it publicly.

[Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Founder]:
"It is a short-sighted judgement that cannot be tolerated and it must be reversed. It can never be that conveying true information to the public is espionage. It is clear the last few years has seen an important backlash against the authoritarianism being exercised by the United States government... Edward Snowden's actions are clearly also a reaction against national security extremism."

Manning, was working as a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad when he was arrested three years ago, could face a hundred-and-thirty-six-year sentence in military prison.

Lind will take up the question of his sentence on Wednesday (July 31).

The U.S. government was pushing for a life sentence without parole, which would have come if Manning had been convicted of aiding the enemy.

Julian Assange Praises 'Hero' Snowden, Rebukes U.S. 'Disgraceful' Treatment - June 30, 2013

6/30/13 - Appearing exclusively on ABC's This Week on Sunday morning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange discussed his and NSA leaker Edward Snowden's respective asylum situations, as well as the United States' "disgraceful" treatment of Snowden in revoking his passport. "There's little I can productively say about what is happening," Assange told host George Stephanopoulos when pressed for details on Snowden's current whereabouts. "Why is it that Mr. Snowden is not in the United States? He should feel that he should be afforded justice in the United States," Assange lamented, "but his situation is very similar to a situation that I face and that my staff face where we have been sucked into a grand jury Alexandria, Virginia.

Assange explained that the particular district in northern Virginia typically has jury pools made up of CIA and Pentagon workers, and is known as "rocket docket" for its "lack of scrutiny procedures" and high conviction rates.

"I think there are several countries where it is politically possible for Mr. Snowden to receive asylum," Assange later added. "He has acted in a manner to draw attention to a very serious problem in the United States where, without the will of Congress, without the will of the American population, we now have a state within a state, we have the transnational surveillance apparatus," he said. "No one signed up for this. Obama doesn't have a mandate. They have been taken for a ride."

Stephanopoulos noted that Secretary of State John Kerry has asserted that the Snowden leaks have put American lives at risk, prompting Assange to dismiss the rhetoric as "false" and pointing to his own WikiLeaks scandal, which he said has yet to prove harmful to any government officials or citizens.

Assange went on to rebuke Vice President Joe Biden for personally calling the president of Ecuador to pressure him into balking at asylum for Snowden. The U.S. government also revoked Snowden's passport, which Assange called a "disgraceful" action.

"By cancelling his passport, [the U.S.] has left [Snowden] for the moment marooned in Russia," he said. "I think that every citizen has the right to their citizenship, to take someone's principle form of citizenship their passport, is a disgrace."

"He is a hero," Assange said of Snowden. "He has told the people of the world and the United States that there is mass unlawful interception of their communications."

Assange: Snowden, Manning victims of Obama's war on whistleblowers

Edward Snowden and Wikileaks' Sarah Harrison who is accompanying him are "safe and healthy," Julian Assange said during a conference call broadcast by RT.

"The current status of Mr Snowden and Harrison is that both are healthy and safe and they are in contact with their legal teams," the WikiLeaks founder said. "I cannot give further information as to their whereabouts," Assange added.

"Snowden is not a traitor, he is not a spy he is a whistleblower who told the public the important truth," he pointed out.