(Thanx Justin!)
Friday, 17 December 2010
Supporters claim Bradley Manning's health is deteriorating in jail
As Julian Assange emerged from his nine-day imprisonment, there were renewed concerns about the physical and psychological health of Bradley Manning, the former US intelligence operative suspected of leaking the diplomatic cables at the centre of the storm.
Manning, who was arrested seven months ago, is being held at a military base in Virginia and faces a court martial and up to 52 years in prison for his alleged role in copying the cables.
His friends and supporters also claim they have been the target of extra-judicial harassment, intimidation and outright bribery by US government agents.
According to David House, a computer researcher from Boston who visits Manning twice a month, he is starting to deteriorate. "Over the last few weeks I have noticed a steady decline in his mental and physical wellbeing," he said. "His prolonged confinement in a solitary holding cell is unquestionably taking its toll on his intellect; his inability to exercise due to [prison] regulations has affected his physical appearance in a manner that suggests physical weakness."
Manning, House added, was no longer the characteristically brilliant man he had been, despite efforts to keep him intellectually engaged. He also disputed the authorities' claims that Manning was being kept in solitary for his own good.
"I initially believed that his time in solitary confinement was a decision made in the interests of his safety," he said. "As time passed and his suicide watch was lifted, to no effect, it became clear that his time in solitary – and his lack of a pillow, sheets, the freedom to exercise, or the ability to view televised current events – were enacted as a means of punishment rather than a means of safety."
House said many people were reluctant to talk about Manning's condition because of government harassment, including surveillance, warrantless computer seizures, and even bribes. "This has had such an intimidating effect that many are afraid to speak out on his behalf," House said.
Some friends report being followed extensively. Another computer expert said the army offered him cash to – in his words – "infiltrate" the WikiLeaks website. He said: "I turned them down. I don't want anything to do with this cloak and dagger stuff."
When the Washington Post tried to investigate the claim, an army criminal investigation division spokesman refused to comment. "We've got an ongoing investigation," he said. "We don't discuss our techniques and tactics."...
Continue reading
Heather Brooke @'The Guardian'
HA!
AndyECoulson If #Assange is not stopped it will leave a single Australian megalomaniac in control of the world media agenda. That job's already taken.
The Fall Live @ Billboard, Melbourne 10/12/10
1. Intro
2. Change
3. O.F.Y.C. Showcase
4. Theme From Sparta F.C.
5. Cowboy George
6. Bury
7. Chino
8. Strychnine
9. Greenway
10. I've Been Duped
11. Hot Cake
12. (break)
13. Muzorewi's Daughter
14. What About Us
15. (break)
16. Mr Pharmacist
17. Reformation
18. (break)
19. Psykick Dancehall
I will let you make up your own minds about this, but I thought they were fugn terrible (not the worst I have ever seen them mind you!) To think I went to this gig instead of the Gorillaz the next night!
Julian Assange released, vows Wikileaks to fight on
"It's great to smell the fresh air of London again.
First, some thankyous. To all the people around the world who have had faith in me, who have supported my team while I have been away.
To my lawyers, who have put up a brave and ultimately successful fight, to our sureties (bail guarantors) and people who have provided money in the face of great difficulty and aversion.
And to members of the press who are not all taken in, and considered to look deeper in their work.
And I guess finally, to the British justice system itself, where if justice is not always the outcome at least it is not dead yet.
During my time in solitary confinement in the bottom of a Victorian prison I had time to reflect on the conditions of those people around the world also in solitary confinement, also on remand, in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me.
Those people also need your attention and support.
And with that I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations."
Thursday, 16 December 2010
U.S. Tries to Build Case for Conspiracy by WikiLeaks
Federal prosecutors, seeking to build a case against the WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange for his role in a huge dissemination of classified government documents, are looking for evidence of any collusion in his early contacts with an Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the information.
Justice Department officials are trying to find out whether Mr. Assange encouraged or even helped the analyst, Pfc. Bradley Manning, to extract classified military and State Department files from a government computer system. If he did so, they believe they could charge him as a conspirator in the leak, not just as a passive recipient of the documents who then published them.
Among materials prosecutors are studying is an online chat log in which Private Manning is said to claim that he had been directly communicating with Mr. Assange using an encrypted Internet conferencing service as the soldier was downloading government files. Private Manning is also said to have claimed that Mr. Assange gave him access to a dedicated server for uploading some of them to WikiLeaks.
Adrian Lamo, an ex-hacker in whom Private Manning confided and who eventually turned him in, said Private Manning detailed those interactions in instant-message conversations with him.
He said the special server’s purpose was to allow Private Manning’s submissions to “be bumped to the top of the queue for review.” By Mr. Lamo’s account, Private Manning bragged about this “as evidence of his status as the high-profile source for WikiLeaks.”
Wired magazine has published excerpts from logs of online chats between Mr. Lamo and Private Manning. But the sections in which the private is said to detail contacts with Mr. Assange are not among them. Mr. Lamo described them from memory in an interview with The New York Times. He said he could not provide the full transcript because the F.B.I. had taken his hard drive, on which it was saved...
Continue reading
Charlie Savage @'NY Times'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
