What do you think of when you think of Guy Fawkes? Maybe you think of a mask, the Gunpowder Plot, ‘V for Vendetta’ or maybe you think of the group, Anonymous. Anonymous is a group of hacktivists who come together on the internet to share important information that the public may not see otherwise.

The group has made huge headlines exposing the Church of Scientology, supporting anti-corruption movements, and has provided a platform for Iranian citizens to criticize their government. One large group that benefits from Anonymous and anonymous information, is WikiLeaks. The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is currently facing an American “witch hunt” against him in which the New York Post says, “It’s trying to punish him for leaking American military and diplomatic secrets on his controversial site.”

The question is, how far should one be punished for revealing pertinent, valuable, information? The point of the Anonymous group is to have a safe place to reveal information that one may not be able to release with their name attached to it. Sometimes that is the only way the most important facts can be known.

Anonymous Analytics describes themselves this way:

“We provide the public with investigative reports exposing corrupt companies. Our team includes analysts, forensic accountants, statisticians, computer experts, and lawyers from various jurisdictions and backgrounds. All information presented in our reports is acquired through legal channels, fact-checked, and vetted thoroughly before release. This is both for the protection of our associates as well as groups/individuals who rely on our work.”

The founder, Assange, has currently been told by Swedish officials that he needs to be extradited from the UK where he has been on house arrest for alleged sex crimes. In a speech he made outside of his balcony, he asked that Bradley Manning (a contributor to WikiLeaks who is facing trial soon) be left alone. Manning, a Unites States Army soldier, was arrested in 2010 in Iraq for suspicion of giving classified information to WikiLeaks. He could be incarcerated for “aiding the enemy.” Manning could be seen as an object of treason, or someone who believes in telling the whole truth.

It always seems to be a debate, especially in the field of journalism, if anonymity is “okay” or not. Anonymity can lead to false information, but can also expose information that can change the lives of many people. Anonymous is a group who is challenging power through anonymity. There is a moral issue with this. The public has a right to know this information, but they also have a right to know where the information is coming from and if it is reliable or not.

However, Anonymous seems to be focusing on helping the people, and keeping them aware of what is going on around them. They have dozens of youtube videos, where they expose information and say, “We are Anonymous, we are Legion, we do not forgive,we do not forget, expect us,” as almost a threat to people who are causing harm. In one video, they even tell the U.S. Senate to expect them.

It really says something when a group of people put forth much time and energy into helping the people by researching and exposing groups who are causing harm, and who are not being paid a single cent for it. However, it also means something when they won’t attach their names to it, and are willing to destroy many group’s reputations and people’s lives at the same time.

Image Courtesy of  zigazou76

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Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was accused of sexual abuse during his visit to Stockholm earlier this year. He spent a few months under home arrest; however, the Swedish government insisted that Assange’s case needs a substantial investigation and demanded his immediate extradition to Sweden.

On August 26, 2012, the 41-year-old Assange was given a political asylum by Ecuador and is currently staying in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Britain cannot take any legal actions against the former hacker-activist because the inrush in the consulate of the South American country and the arrest of Julian Assange will be regarded as violation of the international laws. Although the Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called the British intention to storm the five-storey building of the embassy a “monumental diplomatic mistake”, the UK government declared that it will not allow Julian Assange to flee the country.

According to Correa, Julian Assange “never refused to face justice in Sweden.” However, the founder of WikiLeaks and the leader of the South American country fear that there is a political reason behind the extradition of  Assange.

“I think there is a hidden plan to send Assange to a third country. What other conclusion could you reach?” declared Correa.

The US is said to be the secret force that pulls the wires of Assange’s case. In 2010, Assange’s non-profit organization WikiLeaks began the release of more than 250,000 classified cables, sent by embassies and consulates from all over the world to the U.S. State Department in the period from 1966 to 2010. Immediately after the documents were published, government organizations in the USA, China, Australia, UAE and Switzerland, as well as some financial institutions such as PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard, blocked their WikiLeak’s accounts. However, the protectors of Assange referred to him as defender of freedom of information and speech.

The release of the classified cables opened a wide wound between Ecuador and the States. As a result, the former US ambassador in Ecuador, Heather Hodges, was extradited from the South American country on accounts of accusing President Correa of “ignoring police corruption.” The US government struck back, and the Ecuadorian ambassador was also forced to resign his position.

Meanwhile, Washington denied the rumors that the US is involved in any political machinations against the Australian freedom seeker. However, a lot of questions about Assange’s case remain unanswered.

Who is Baltazar Garzon and why exactly does he represent Julian Assange in the court?

Baltazar Garzon is a former Spanist judge, famous for his uncompromising and aggressive attitude in the court, especially on cases concerning international human rights. He is responsible for the arrest of the former President of Chile, General Augusto Pinochet, in 1998 on account of torturing and causing the death of Spanish citizens in both Chile and Argentina. It was the first case in which a head of state was detained, although no serious measures were taken.

Recently, Garzon was accused of cooperating with the Falange, the Spanish political followers of the Fascist movement in Italy. That’s why some analytists assume that Assange’s case is mainly on a political basis.

Concerning the situation of the Australian founder of WikiLeaks, Garzon declared that Ecuador should address the International Court of Justice in the Hague to force the British government to allow Assange to leave the South American country.

What are Correa’s real intentions?

The Ecuadorean President is renowned for his tempestuous and rigid foreign and domestic politics. His decision to help Julian Assange was both condemned and appreciated by the international public.

“Correa has managed to antagonize the UK, Sweden, and the US at the same time. Once again he has stomped his way to central stage,” the John Hopkins University professor Riordan Roeff said in an interview.

However, specialists are inclined to believe that behind the plans of Correa to save the founder of WikiLeaks from his extradition to Sweden and and then probably to the US, stands a political rather than a humane reason.

Recently, it has been revealed that Correa and Assange “met” personally via Skype in May 2012, when the founder of WikiLeaks was still serving his home arrest. Right then, Correa wanted Assange to understand that for him he is not an international criminal, but an “emblem of ultimate freedom of expression.”

Andrés Mejía Acosta, an Ecuadorian political scientist, proposed another hypothesis about Correa’s reason to give a political asylum to Assange. In an interview, he revealed “the gesture to Assange may be a way for Correa to cleanse his reputation as a persecutor of the press.”

Years ago, an Ecuadorian newspaper called Correa a “dictator” and accused him of violation of human rights. The author of the article, Emilio Palacio, was arrested and the newspaper forced to pay a fine measuring $40,000,000 in charge of “criminal libel” against an authority.

Earlier this year, Palacio, who has been living in Miami since he was set free, was officially excused by the Ecuadorean President. That’s why many specialists assume that Correa is now trying to represent himself in a more favorable light.

On the other hand, the storm between Ecuador and the US will not subside soon. Whether Assange is the weapon of their mutual revenge – nobody is able to comment at this stage.

Indeed, the majority of the analysts asume that Correan’s decision to offer Assange a helping hand is his next step for broadening his leadership position on the international political firmament.

Will Assange receive the support of the rest of the South American world, and what will be the fate of the WikiLeak’s founder?

On August 19, 2012, Assange gave his first public speech from one of the balconies of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after the South American country granted him political asylum. Watched by hundreds of police officers, he thanked Rafael Correa for the rendered assistance and addressed the White House with the request to “renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks.”

Washington assured Assange that his fate is in the hands of Britain, Sweden and Ecuador.

Although in his speech Assange cogently declared that the countries from Central and South America support him, Brazil and Columbia issued that they did not agree with Correa’s decision to give a political asylum to the 41-year-old Assange.

The foreign ministers of South America’s 12 nation union gathered in Guayaquil, Ecuador last Sunday to discuss the case and to convince the White House to take a stance on the issue. However, no one can make an exact prognosis about what will be the next step in the case of Julian Assange and what’s more controversial - who will make it.

Image Courtesy of   acidpolly

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Moscow, Russia – Two Arab Spring revolutionaries, Nabeel Rajab and Alaa Abd al-Fattah explain why the reform movements stalled in Bahrain and have destabilized in Egypt on the May 8th episode of “The World Tomorrow” on RT.

Nabeel Rajab is the leading human rights activist from Bahrain and the founder of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights; right prior to the air of his interview to Julian Assange he was arrested by the Bahraini government forces and will now stand trial for inciting the acts of protests.

Alaa Abd al-Fattah is the Egyptian writer and political activist who was a prominent figure in the Egyptian revolution. The two guests discuss the impetus behind the uprisings in the Middle East, what has been achieved and the prospects for democracy and reform in these countries.

“I speak to two leading revolutionaries: one from Bahrain, where the revolution failed; one from Egypt, where the revolution is now in turmoil. What makes a revolution? And where is the Arab Spring going to go?” – commented Assange on the upcoming episode.

In the interview given prior to his arrest Rajab commented on the struggle of the protest movement inBahrain on the show: “This is freedom. This is democracy that we are fighting for. It has a cost and we have to pay this cost, and the cost might be very expensive – as we have paid high cost in Bahrain. And, we are willing to pay that for the changes that we are fighting for.”

The fourth episode of Julian Assange’s program will air globally on Tuesday, May 8th at 15:30 Moscowtime /11:30 GMT/7:30 EDT across all RT channels in English, Arabic and Spanish, and will be rebroadcast every two hours thereafter.

The progress of the Arab Spring movements across different countries is a topic that Julian Assange has explored continuously starting with the very first episode of “The World Tomorrow.” Interview with the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah caused a global media firestorm and trended on Twitter throughout the day. The most recent episode featured an extended discussion with Moncef Marzouki, the interim President of Tunisia, on democratic reforms in the cradle of the Arab Spring.

“The World Tomorrow” is RT’s weekly interview program created and hosted by the WikiLeaks founder. Promotional materials, an exclusive interview with Assange and the full-length video of the aired episodes are available at http://assange.rt.com.

Image Courtesy of   MOHPhoto / Shutterstock.com

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The sixth edition of the International Journalism Festival (IJF) in Italy has just started. For five days, from April 25 to 29, the city of Perugia will become “the capital of journalism” hosting journalists, bloggers and media organizations from all over the world, with over 200 volunteers and thousands of guests coming from every corner of Italy and from abroad.

More than 500 speakers, 250 accredited journalists, 200 free entry events, not to mention workshops, exhibitions, documentaries, awards;  the International Journalism Festival is a goldmine for enthusiasts of media and communications, and for those interested in and concerned about the future of journalism, freedom of speech and the right to information.

The issues to be discussed are plentiful, from journalism ethics to journalist activism, from civic media and citizen journalism to democracy, from the use of mobile phones and videocameras for reporting to economic sustainability, from hacking to social networking, and much more. A rich and varied program based on participation, discussion, free exchange of ideas, confrontation between experts and citizens, professionals and students, researchers and users.

The International Journalism Festival is a five day journey into the world of media and journalism, a look into the mass media of tomorrow, strategies, tools, and platforms of reporting and into the endless possibilities of civic engagement offered by new media and social networks.

Among the guests of the IJF 2012 are:

• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson
• Aron Pilhofer, New York Times
• Robert Philomé, France 24
• Simon Rogers, The Guardian
• Dan Nguyen, Propublica
• David Aaronovitch, The Times
• Adam Baker, Blottr
• Tony Curzon Price, openDemocracy.net
• Clive Edwards, BBC
• Ibrahim Hamdan, Al Jazeera
• Hada Messia, CNN
• Riccardo Noury, Amnesty International Italy
• Mohamed Ali Zakaria, photo-reporter
• Wolfgang Blau, Zeit Online
•  Ali al-Bouazizi, political activist
•  Kristinn Hrafnsson, Wikileaks
• Martin Dawes,  UNICEF
• Herman Burt, Storify & Hacks/Hackers,
• Mark Johnson, The Economist
• Per Mikael Jensen, Metro International

For the complete list of speakers please visit http://www.journalismfestival.com/speaker-list/2012.

Founded in 2006 by Arianna Ciccone and Christopher Potter with the aim “to set up an event which would break the mould” and to create “an opportunity for you to engage with leading journalists from all over the world”, the IJF is an informal and accessible festival open to everybody completely free of charge. A chance to discuss a wide range of current interest topics, to aggregate and involve a broad variety of media organizations, journalists, aspiring journalists, experts, and all those curious persons interested in media and its role in society.

Located right in the heart of Italy, Perugia is a beautiful medieval city of Etruscan origins and an artistic center situated on a hilltop, with a reputation for fine cuisine, beautiful landscapes and rich history. The Umbria’s capital is also famous for its universities, University of Perugia and University of Foreigners, which host more than 40,000 students every year. The perfect perfect place to enjoy food, arts, landscapes and, why not journalism.

For more information on the International Journalism Festival visit www.journalismfestival.com.

To see the whole program www.journalismfestival.com/programme/2012

For updates you can follow IJF on Facebook and Twitter and if you want to watch IFJ events from the web, go to webtv.festivaldelgiornalismo.com/

Image Courtesy of   International Journalism Festival

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Below is a statement from Stratfor on release of company emails by Wikileaks:

In December, thieves compromised Stratfor’s data systems and stole a large number of company emails, along with other private information of Stratfor readers, subscribers and employees. Those stolen emails apparently will be published by Wikileaks. This is a deplorable, unfortunate — and illegal — breach of privacy.

Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic. We will not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them. Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them.

For subscribers and friends of Stratfor, we stress that the disclosure of these emails does not mean that there has been another hack of Stratfor’s computer and data systems. Stratfor’s data systems, which we have worked hard to rebuild since the December hack, remain secure and protected.

As with last year’s hack, the release of these emails is a direct attack on Stratfor. This is another attempt to silence and intimidate the company, and one we reject. Under the continued leadership of founder and Chief Executive Officer George Friedman, Stratfor will not be silenced and will continue to publish the geopolitical analysis our friends and subscribers have come to rely upon.

As we have said before, Stratfor has worked to build good sources in many countries around the world, as any publisher of global geopolitical analysis would do. We have done so in a straightforward manner and we are committed to meeting the highest standards of professional conduct.

Stratfor is not a government organization, nor is it affiliated with any government. The emails are private property. Like all private emails, they were written casually, with no expectation anyone other than the sender and recipient would ever see them. They should be read as such.

Stratfor understands that this hack and the fallout from it, including the disclosures by Wikileaks, have created serious difficulties for our subscribers, friends and employees. We again apologize for any problems this incident has created, and we deeply appreciate the loyalty that has been shown to Stratfor since last year’s hack.

We want to assure everyone that Stratfor is committed to recovering from the hack and rebuilding trust with the public, and will continue to do what we do best: produce and publish industry-leading analysis of international affairs.

About Stratfor
Stratfor is a subscription-based provider of geopolitical analysis. Individual and corporate subscribers gain a thorough understanding of international affairs, including what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what will happen next. Unlike traditional news outlets, Stratfor uses a unique, intelligence-based approach to gathering information via rigorous open-source research and a global network of human sources.

Analysts then evaluate events looking through the objective lens of geopolitics. The company’s goal is simple: to make the complexity of the world understandable to an intelligent readership, without ideology, agenda or national bias.

Additional information can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/stratfor

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Documentary Channel (DOC) is proud to announce the acquisition of 2012 Academy Award nominee ”Incident in New Baghdad.”  A film by James Spione, ”Incident in New Baghdad” is an eye-opening look into the WikiLeaks video that rattled the world as recounted by a United States soldier who was there. The film will premiere on Documentary Channel Sunday, May 27th at 8p ET/PT.

This compelling documentary shines a spotlight on one of the most notorious incidents of the Iraq War – the July 2007 slaying of two Reuters journalists and a number of other civilians (some armed, many not) by U.S. attack helicopters – through the powerful testimony of an American infantryman whose life was forever changed by his experiences on the scene.

U.S. Army Specialist Ethan McCord bore witness to the devastating carnage, found and rescued two children caught in the crossfire, and soon turned against the war that he had enthusiastically joined only months before.  In April 2010, WikiLeaks released the stunning cockpit video of the incident, spurring McCord into speaking out about his role that day.  In”Incident in New Baghdad” the former soldier tells his story.

“We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of this impactful Academy Award-nominated film,” said James Ackerman, President and CEO of Documentary Channel.  “Documentary film is a powerful medium that offers a window into some of the most important stories of our time.  Jim Spione and Ethan McCordhave courageously shed light on an astonishing event.  We congratulate Jim on this phenomenal nomination and are honored to bring ”Incident in New Baghdad” to our channel.”

“I am so pleased to be partnering with the Documentary Channel in bringing this story to the wide American audience it deserves,” said Mr. Spione.  “The on-the-ground reality of our wars is too often kept hidden from us—so I applaud the Documentary Channel’s courage in bringing Ethan McCord’s story to center stage.”

The 2012 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject will be presented on Sunday, February 26. ”Incident in New Baghdad” comes to Documentary Channel May 27th, 2012 at 8p ET/PT.

Documentary Channel is primarily available through satellite television services DISH Network (Channel 197) and DIRECTV (Channel 267).

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When Wikileaks released a total of 477.000 secret US records of military incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan, the American government went into a panicked frenzy – how did this happen? Among the sensitive material was the highly controversial recorded killing of 12 people – including two journalist – by US helicopter force in Baghdad, 2007. The video went around the world and became a major political embarrassment to the American forces in the region.

On May 26, 2010, US Pte First Class Bradley Manning was arrested and later charged on July 5 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UDMJ) for stealing classified data and leaking it to Wikileaks between November 2009 and May 2010. Manning was exposed after a chat exchange between him and former hacker Adrian Lamo where he confessed to parts of his actions and expressed his distress over the “mess” he had created. Upon his arrest, he was held at a military jail in Kuwait but in July 2010, the 23-year-old Private was moved to the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia and classified as a ‘maximum custody detainee’.

The documents believed to be leaked by Manning continued to be published after his arrest but Wikileaks denied any direct contact with the detained Private. Regardless, the US government launched an intensive investigation into its founder, Julian Assange. According to the New York Times in December 2010, federal prosecutors were seeking to build a case on the notion that the Wikileaks leader had encouraged and ‘coached’ Pte Manning to extract the classified documents. According to Lamo, Manning had claimed to be a high-profile source for Wikileaks but following his arrest, the organisation stated that they had no way of verifying if Manning was in fact the source of the military documents. Assange told msnbc TV in December 2010 that the allegations of a Wikileaks/Manning conspiracy was “absolute nonsense” and by the new year, several online sources seemed to agree that links between the army private and Assange were questionable.

This changed nothing for Manning – by March, 2011, the US Army had filed another 22 counts against him in relation with the leakage of more than 720.000 secret diplomatic and military documents, according to the BBC. The Iraq War Logs is considered the greatest data leak in US military history and from a legal point of view, Manning’s fate is sealed.

However, there are still humanitarian concerns. In June 2010, the Bradley Manning Support Network was founded to promote justice in the process and their foundation has been highly critical of the conditions of his detention. According to reports dating back to 2010, Private Manning had been subjected to harassment and ritual humiliation while being held at Quantico. Accounts of his mistreatment, delivered through his lawyer, gave rise to strong criticism – both public and political.

“The military and Administration has been shocked by the support Bradley Manning has garnered globally – specifically at the gates of Quantico, Virginia. Last month, 500 supporters rallied near the Marine brig where PFC Manning has been held since August 2010. It wasn’t a secret that we were preparing to rally one to two thousand for an upcoming DC-area pre-trial hearing,” explains Jeff Paterson, the Project Director at Courage to Resist and member of the Bradley Manning Support Network.

On April 12, Juan Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, told the press that he had been blocked from an unmonitored meeting with Manning as part of his investigation into the rumoured torture. US officials were not going to let Mr Mendez speak to Manning without officials present but the UN investigator said that a monitored conversation would be counter to his mandate, according the the BBC.

On April 19, the US administration transferred Manning to Kansas – a move viewed as the result of the criticism of his mistreatment. Dennis Kucinich, a congressman from Ohio, commented on the decision that, “Any move of PFC Manning does not change the underlying fact, which has not been disputed by the Department of Defense, that he has been held under conditions which may in fact constitute ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ in violation of the 8th amendment.”

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On Tuesday, the fifth of April, the Ecuadorian Government announced the expulsion of the United States ambassador Heather Hodges. The government expressed that the ambassador was not an unwelcome person. This action was taken by consequence of a confidential diplomatic leak, from Wikileaks, and was published by the newspaper El Pais. The leak contained information about the corruption present in Ecuador, mainly in the Police ground.

In a press conference, the foreign minister Ricardo Patiño said: “ We have asked that she abandons the country as soon as she can. Regarding the relationship with United States, he also claimed: “ There is no way, that we would intend to affect the relationship with United States”. In response United States has classified the issue as “unjustified”.

Mr. Patiño called Mrs. Hodges to her office, in order to ask some explanations about the diplomatic leak that was exposed in the media. The ambassador in response, said that the documents had been stolen, and that neither her nor her Government would make any comments about it. The minister explained that once said that she was not a welcome person in the country, it is directed to a functionary who did a leak of this nature and then she resign to give any other explanation about the them”.

Mr. Patiño, also assured that Ecuador would not proceed to contact its ambassador in Washington, because its reaction has is not linked at all towards the American Government, but it’s linked against the leaks that had been signed by the ambassador.”

The leaked material had been released in 2009. Whereas the United States embassy in Quito affirmed that “ the corruption is generalized in the rows of the Ecuadorian Police”. The leaked document exposed the information about a policeman named Jaime Hurtado Vaca, whom resigned his charge on May of the same year. The document contained information about how the referred policeman had utilized his status by being the main authority in his congregation. He recurred to extortionate, accumulated money, facilitated the traffic of people and protected other corrupted agents as well.

Also, the document exposed “ that some of the functionaries of the United States embassy thought that the President Rafael Correa, was conscious about the corrupt activities. Some observers concerned about the issue, believed that Correa took advantage of this situation in order to have a Chief policeman whom could be easily manipulated”.

Mr. Patiño affirmed: “It is absolutely unacceptable, our Government cannot accept this kind of information that has been released by the ambassador of United States in our country.”

On the other hand, the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, had accused United States of spying the country’s policeman. In an interview that was retransmitted by more than ten radio stations, he affirmed that the relationship among both countries “were the best”, he remarked that it was a “pity” about how this things can be done, spying the police, and trying to involucrate the President of the Republic in corruption cases. He classified Mrs. Hodges as “ bad functionary” that he “had never liked” to his executive. And added, that “ he wished that this doesn’t damage the relationship among United States and Ecuador, because if it does, what a shame, but here we will make the sovereignty of the country be respected”.

Grasping also the other side point of view, a spokesman from the Whitehouse declared, “ The ambassador Hodges is one of our most experimented and talented diplomatic. The State department considers her expulsion as unjustified and we are deeply sorry that the Ecuadorian Government proceeded to do so ”.

The American ambassador from her side said that the decision of Correa’s executive has left her “ tremendously sad”.” I hope I can have another opportunity, maybe, to answer questions”. She added that she did not count with enough time to prepare an adequate response regarding the question about the leaking material from Wikileaks, and that before she make any declarations about the issue, she has to consult Washington.

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The soldier Bradley Manning, who was accused by leaking more than 260,000 diplomatic cables, thousands of reports and one military attack video known as “Collateral Murder”. To Wikileaks, has been recently transferred from Quantico, which is a base of the Marine infantry to a military jail in  (Kansas).

The conditions the soldier faced at Quantico had been criticized by the congress, and for many civil rights groups. The Pentagon’s lawyer “ Jeh Johnson announced that Manning’s movement should not be interpret as an acceptance of the critics, since this “is not the case”. The detention conditions of Manning had been adjusted to all the legal standards, in each aspect”. Nevertheless, the Pentagon considers that the installations at Kansas are “ more appropriated for his continuous preventive detention”, Johnson claimed.

Due to the fact that the young soldier of 23 years old, has faced preventive detention from around 10 months, Manning lawyer, has solicited for manning to be submitted into an evaluation in order to determine and analyze if he has the appropriate “mental capability” to affront the trial.

Organization like International Amnesty, human rights organizations have criticize the detainment conditions, which Manning had to experience. Manning’s lawyers denounced by the beginning of March that the soldier had been receiving “inappropriate treatments in Quantico. Manning’s conditions were tough; he had to be in the cell 23 hours a day. The cell was not well equipped. He did not count with a pillow, sheets, and personal objects.

He was obligated to sleep naked, supposedly to guarantee his safety and lower the risk of suicidal attempt. According to the New York Times: President Obama and other administration officials have defended Private Manning’s treatment at Quantico, but Philip J. Crowley resigned as the State Department spokesman last month after publicly criticizing the Pentagon as “’ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid” in its treatment of him.

The new installations at Fort Leavenworth appear to be more suitable and appropriate. Lt. Col. Dawn Hilton, who is the garrison commander at Fort Leavenworth said: “ I encourage you to come out and see how wonderful our facility is,” she told reporters.

She also made clear, that once Manning arrived Leavenworth, he would be conducting an assessment by the mental health professionals at Leavenworth. Once verifying that the chances of him being a threat to himself and others, he would eat three meals a day in a group dining hall, also he will count with recreational time, indoors and out, during three hours per day. Finally he will also be allowed to interact with other prisoners.

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25-year-old Herbert Snorrason is not a regular recent graduate. He comes from Iceland, the European island country which came under international attention during the global financial crisis when its banking system collapsed and revealed gross neglect in the national financial sector. He is a student of history but has an interest in the digital age – and interest that led him to join one of the most important – or controversial – organizations in the last decade; the hybrid between news media and intelligence agency, Wikileaks.

In an interview with Toonari Post, Herbert Snorrason told our investigative reporters about his experience in Wikileaks and how it led to the creation of the upcoming leaking site Openleaks.

You used to work for Wikileaks – can you tell us how you got involved in this organisation?

Wikileaks published a document concerning an Icelandic bank in late July 2009. Shortly after that I got in touch with some people from Wikileaks because of a minor technical issue there. Then a few months later I invited those people to speak at a conference in Iceland [for the Icelandic Digital Freedom Society] that I was one of the organisers of and the people who arrived was Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg and that’s essentially how I got involved with Wikileaks.

What grabbed your attention about the Wikileaks project?

My attention was essentially because it is something that think needs to be done and when I saw that there was somebody doing it I was very interested and I had actually been following Wikileaks for a year and a half by the time that I got in touch with them.

We read that you claim to be an anarchist, is that why you got involved with your line of work?

I believe that organisations don’t really have a right to secrecy and I believe that the more open a society, a society where people have more information is a society where we can take more informed decisions and where we perhaps won’t need the gatekeepers that are currently in place as much

How would you describe the product that Wikileaks deliver [and it’s impact]?

I think that what Wikileaks is ultimately trying to deliver is change and whether Wikileaks is successful at that or not is something that will have to be decided later. It’s way too soon to say what the real results are or will be or have been.

Why did you leave the Wikileaks organization?

I left Wikileaks because I felt certain reforms were needed and it was made very clear to me that those reforms would not be made and there would not be any sort of accountability for the leadership of that organisation.

And from your shift from Wikileaks to Openleaks, what values are you taking with you and what values are you leaving behind?

That’s a pretty difficult question. I think it’s fair to say that we’re trying to continue with the ideals behind Wikileaks but trying to leave behind some problems of implementation. Which is not to say that we think we’ll be flawless but we think we can avoid some of the flaws that have plagued Wikileaks

Do you feel there’s any difficulties being implicated in projects like Openleaks [and Wikileaks]?

I don’t think there is any reason for the people who are involved to be worried. I can see why people would be but I myself don’t think there’s any reason to worry so… Look, I come from a country where intelligence consists of three people in the national commissioner’s basement. It’s not like it’s something that I’ve been used to worrying about so I think my perspective on what to worry about may be a little skewed.

How would you respond to the statement that leaking classified information is a weapon?

Well yes, information is a weapon that is unquestionable so if you look at it that way then why is the government hoarding or collecting such a great armoury of information on just about everyone so I mean, if they are accusing us of using information as a weapon then obviously that’s because they’re used to viewing information as a weapon so anyway you look at it, they’re doing more of it than we are.

We can predict that there are many expectations around the launch of Openleaks – How is the launch coming along?

Well, there is a bit of pressure. Mostly it’s that there are too many people interested for us to be able to help everyone which is a shame but we will have to start quite small and grow rather slowly so we will have to disappoint quite a few people unfortunately. My main worry is that we will not be allowed to grow slowly enough but we will see what happens.

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