Next WikiLeaks could 'take down a bank or two'
November 30, 2010 - 1:08PM

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has claimed a fresh "megaleak" will target a major US bank "early next year", according to an interview published on Monday.

Speaking to Forbes magazine, Assange said that he was ready to unleash tens of thousands of documents that could "take down a bank or two".

Comparing the documents to the emails that exposed Enron's dealings amid its collapse, the controversial Australian said an existing "big US bank" was the subject of a pending data dump.

Asked about any future leaks, he said: "Yes. We have one related to a bank coming up, that's a megaleak. It's not as big a scale as the Iraq material, but it's either tens or hundreds of thousands of documents depending on how you define it."

The interview was conducted early this month, before Sunday's publication of about a quarter of a million leaked United States embassy cables from WikiLeaks that have caused consternation in Washington and capitals around the world.

Assange said the bank leak would "give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume.

"Usually when you get leaks at this level, it's about one particular case or one particular violation."

Amid the economic crisis a handful of "too big to fail" US banks have come under scrutiny for their dealings, particularly with mortgaged-backed securities that helped fuel the meltdown.

Executives from Goldman Sachs and the now-defunct Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns have been hauled before Congress to explain their banks' actions.

Assange mentioned Goldman Sachs by name in the interview, but did not confirm the Wall Street giant would be the target of the leak.

Goldman has recently agreed a $US550 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle fraud charges.

Facing allegations of defrauding investors, the investment bank admitted it had made a "mistake" and given "incomplete" information to clients.

Assange said that "about 50 per cent" of the documents that the nonprofit organisation holds relate to the corporate world.

On 18 November, Stockholm District Court approved a request to detain Assange for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.[91] Director of Public Prosecutions Marianne Ny, who had reopened the investigation in September, said she had requested the warrant because, "so far, we have not been able to meet with him to accomplish the interrogation."[91][92] Assange's British legal counsel Mark Stephens disputed this saying "we were willing to meet at the Swedish embassy or Scotland Yard or via video link" and that "all of these offers have been flatly refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media circus that she will orchestrate".[93][94] On 20 November an international arrest warrant was issued via Interpol by Sweden's National Criminal Police force. In addition an EU arrest warrant was issued through the Schengen Information System. "We made sure that all the police forces in the world would see it", a spokesman for the National Criminal Police said.[95][96][97][98]
Stephens dismissed the charges,[93] issuing a statement in which he called the allegations "false and without basis" and said "even the substance of the allegations, as revealed to the press through unauthorized disclosures do not constitute what any advanced legal system considers to be rape".[97][99] Assange's Swedish lawyer, Björn Hurtig, claimed that the evidence against Assange was "very meager. It's not enough to get him convicted for crime."[100]
On 24 November 2010, Assange lost an appeal against his detention, and thus remains under arrest in absentia and under an arrest warrant. The Svea Court of Appeal rejected his appeal and upheld the decision to remand him by the Stockholm district court.[92][101] Assange's lawyer Björn Hurtig said that he would appeal to the Supreme Court of Sweden.[101] Assange filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in late November.[102]

Seems like a real top shelf bloke.

Don't believe everything you read.

If wikileaks ever goes under, there'll always be work available for him as the bad guy in the next Die Hard film.

Julian Assange arrested
December 7, 2010 - 9:37PM

London police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange following an international request by the Swedish police for the detention of the Australian in a rape investigation.

Assange, who had a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion, was arrested at 9.30 am London time (8.30pm Melbourne time), the Metropolitan Police Service's Extradition Unit said.

Interpol put Assange on its wanted list after a Stockholm district court issued a warrant for his arrest on November 18 at the request of prosecutor Marianne Ny, who said she had been unable to question him.
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The Svea Court of Appeal on November 24 upheld the warrant while reducing the case to a "less serious" rape charge.

On December 2, the Supreme Court rejected Assange's request to review the matter.

WikiLeaks, created in 2006, drew condemnation from the US for posting thousands of classified State Department documents on its website.

WikiLeaks.org receives confidential material and posts the information on the internet "so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth," the organisation says on its website.

I can just imagin all the movie producers in hollywood licking their lips at what a good movie this will make.

get him to do FIFA

Now why the fuck didn't we think of that before?

I said that the day after the announcement #-o

You guys do realise he just founded Wikileaks right?

He doesn't go and find these documents, they are submitted to the website by anonymous people out there. He is just the guy that came up with the concept and made a website for it.

Getting rid of him isn't going to stop the leaks and these documents getting uploaded for the public to see.

Yea I recon they'll torture him until they find out where the hidouts are then they'll 'clean up' everything.

Torturing a man with that kind of information is just fucking stupid. He's a very clever man. He'd have a system where if he doesn't report in for a week to a certain person, then certain pieces of 'highly classified' information will be released. Wikileaks is leaking all kinds of information, but you can bet your arse that it's not the worst of it, he'd be saving that as his own personal insurance policy to guarantee his freedom and life.