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WikiLeaks: Grand Jury Hearing Opens in US
The FBI has ordered a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts to testify at a grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, who faces the possibility of being charged with espionage in the United States.
The jury, which will decide if an indictment is brought, met in secret in Alexandria, Virginia. The subpoena, which was leaked to the news website Salon.com, indicated that the Department of Justice is seriously examining possible violations of the draconian 1917 Espionage Act.
The face of Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks website, is seen on the whistle-blowers' portal. (AFP/Thomas Coex)
Prosecutors are keen to show that Mr Assange and his organisation encouraged and abetted the leaking of a vast trove of American military and diplomatic documents, which has stunned and infuriated Washington.
Bradley Manning, a US army intelligence analyst, is suspected of leaking the information and is currently in military custody. Earlier reports said that two students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had aided Mr Manning, though it is not clear if either was the man ordered to testify on Wednesday.
Journalists are not allowed to attend grand jury hearings, which often last more than a year and usually result in a prosecution. However, a non-government party has never been prosecuted under the Espionage Act.
Mr Assange is currently in Britain fighting an extradition order to Sweden for a sexual assault case. His lawyers have argued that Sweden would be merely a stop on the way to extradition in the US.
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26 Comments so far
Show AllHad Obama been President during the Vietnam War, we would have never found out about the My Lai massacre or read the Pentagon papers. Obama makes Nixon look like a civil libertarian.
Exactly, Obama is simply Bush's third term. And his fanatical supporters are fundamentally no different than Bush supporters.
This country has moved so far to the right it looks like a home for Attila the Hun - who would never do his stuff in secret. He was all up front. So I guess this is an insult to Attila...... Sorry, old hun ....
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good bye
TIME THE PEOPLE SPOKE.
Indeed lets call it what it is, for it is certainly not what we use to call it """THE MEDIA""", I mean it in the most profound way, it is ""MIND CONTROL apparatus""". We are starting to understand the impact of controlling the media. IT CAN BE USED AGAINST THE INDIVIDUAL, CAN TESTIFY TO THAT, IT IS EQUALLY POWERFUL WHEN USED AGAINST THE COLLECTIVE.
1940, they did not have the amount of information we do "NOW" but they knew the difference between rights & wrongs, human & inhuman. there was no FILTER. EXCEPT for the German people, the Soviets & others to a relative extent.
1940 perhaps a bit late, critical mass & RESISTANCE started NATURALLY
Our EMOTIONAL, ETHICAL, INTELLECTUAL, INSTINCTIVE """FIREWALL""" is to some degree & temporary damaged, TODAY (FOX, EX BOX, THE BOLD&THE IMBECILE, SPORTS, LEGAL DRUGS, GAMBLING, A TERRORIZING SYSTEM WHERE U R WATCHED 24H NON STOP, THE ONLY THING U WATCH THE IS the "BOX" WHICH TELLS YOU , U R, WATCHED 24H non stop, NYPD BLUE & THE WAR OF TERROR ON THE NEWS.
They don't need a WARRANT to arrest U they don't need to break your front door, for now at least they have access to a far more sensitive GATE """OUR CONSCIOUSNESS""" the COLLECTIVE, @least some of US or part of us for NOW, not all of US. THE CLASS STRUGLE is becoming more visible to the naked eyes, consciousness is surfacing gradually.
For the individual it's a different story, repression must be more tailored, more '''CUSTOMIZED'''. Targeting what they consider leading individuals, ""BRADLEY, ASSANGE, AN accountant with a conscience pointing @bank,,"" leading organizations "ACCORN" cutting on education, public media, curtailing human right organization, anti war, peace group, legal entities with integrity that protect the above including lawyers, the few good judges such as "Baltasar Garzon"
. In other words all infrastructure that keeps US HUMAN, THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO OUR HUMANITY,THE EROSION OF IT, PERHAPS the reason why the term devolution keeps on surfacing in the conversation.
1940 the AVERAGE Greek, French, Polish, Yugoslavian & British citizen joined the resistance, further more several pockets of resistance in Europe managed to CONNECT than. HUMAN hubs were created. The French occupier made a deal with the occupied Algeria "JOIN US against the Nazis & WE'LL SET U FREE. AN IRONY IN IT SELF,although it did not happen immediately it took fifteen years to MATERIALIZE thanks to A MILLION & HALF DEAD, the second world war created a certain (moral) momentum, which led to "THE SELF DETERMINATION" OF MANY COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD, including African American awakening, emancipation of various groups including """WOMAN""" the events in France & other achievements. Unfortunately We witnessed the rise of the us EMPIRE just when France, England & the others were pulling out the rise of the FUNDAMENTALIST TENDENCIES NEO CON, NEW WORLD ORDER, NEO LIB & THE SHOCK DOCTRINE TYPE OF ECONOMY & vision or rather lack there of. gradually put an end to that political, cultural & economic exploration. AROUND THE SAME TIME THE MURDOCHS & THE BERLOSCONI of the planet started purchasing our WORDS which they converted into theirs. Since than gradually we ceased speaking. We can only watch, we've been watching since, an awful lot, especially since the 9th of September, the two of them.
We must remove that filter, we must heal & set ourselves free. Only the people can do it, not ashcroft or gingrich they have to answer some questions themselves they can run to launder their dirty deeds they can't hide the dead it's still piling, they seek political camouflage but they want get very far. It is particularly interesting to watch who will support them within the media, considering the role the played in the repressive stages we've just lived. These are GUILLOTINE OPERATORS.
In his recent speech gingrich, brags about how he got rid of the soviet union, he adds""" WE CAN DO IT AGAIN""" he means """CHINA""" the return of the prodigal child,of course. he's dreaming, but where I come from he's allowed. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY HE CAN DO THAT, PSYCHOPATHIC LEADERSHIP CAN DO ANYTHING, THERE IS NO CONSCIENCE OR COMPASSION.
Our battle becomes two battles, one to change the blindness of uncle sam the other to change a certain course of collusion.
Those who will give them a voice are those who are pushing toward the cliff.
No Terror No Torture Just Truth.
however, there doesn't seem to be any grand jury investigation into the crimes revealed in the leaked documents.................
Assange and Manning are heroes. Someone has to find a way to get the government under control of the people. I bet Anonymous could do it.
Yes, those who can contribute within Anonymous, Get it on! And, hopefully Wikileaks will keep on leaking. Our criminals can't sustain forever in the face of truth.
And, OpenLeaks? Pour it on!
Amen. Universal surveillance means just that. They keep the spotlight on us, the many. We must fight back and keep the spotlight on them, the few.
They get to call Manning and Assange traitors for doing the job of informing the democratic citizenry what should not be hidden in the first place. They are the real traitors, and we must continue to hold them up to the light.
I think the term "whistleblower" does not do justice to the job Manning and Assange have done for us. They courageously practice bold professional journalism instead of infotainment.
It is time to call our criminality, corruption, militarism, corporate tyranny a FASCIST POLITICAL SYSTEM. When the rule of laws, always duplicitous, selective, and EXCLUSIVE, reflect their corporate, class tyranny, distortions on justice, completely breaking down, to no rule of laws, while protecting major WAR CRIMINALS: Bush and Obama, then we must declare it a corporate and military Fascism.!!!! When class laws legalize torture, illegal invasions, spying on its citizens, fabricated and false charges against social activists, the liberals must be called fascist appeasers, while the conservatives must be exposed as Fascist class/Empire thugs!!!! Obama is protecting the fascist Pentagon, fascist CIA, criminal Bush officials, and Fascist Zionism, from War crimes prosecution, it means the world must come together and PROSECUTE BOTH CRIMINAL, CORRUPT, CLASS, EMPIRE PARTIES, NATO, AND ISRAEL FOR THEIR WAR CRIMES, AND GLOBAL FASCIST MATRIX. PROSECUTE BUSH, OBAMA, NATO AND ISRAEL!!!
Those who expose war crimes and war criminals should not be prosecuted by the very same War criminals, and military thugs who commit war crimes. We hung Nazis for their aggression, war crimes, we did not allow these fascists to prosecute those who resisted, opposed their criminality.
Then those left living took over our country.
Actually this farcical empanneling of a grand jury may serve to assist Julian Assange in fighting extradition. I don't think any British Government will put Mr. Assange in peril of being prosecuted under an ancient law that has only ever been applied to American citizens. This is definite over reach by the DOJ and may be their undoing.
Bet they'll call it JOURNORRISM! or TERRORNALISM!
Assange is a hero to the human race, just not to the US elites. If they extradite him to Sweden he'll have the bag on his head and be in some black torture site within hours.
FREE BRADLEY MANNING! VIVA WIKILEAKS!
I know it may seem trite and banal, because it has been quoted many times, but it fits this scenario of the prosecution of Julian Assange: " IN A TIME OF DECEIT TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT ". George Orwell
Another kangaroo court. AmeriKKKa, is one sick country.
Julian Assange should have gone underground a long time ago.You cant play by rules and laws...there are none. The whole putrid scharade is rigged.
To wanked
I sympathize with your point of view, On the contrary HE stays OUT WE come OUT
&"""JOIN HIM""".
kissinger is not ALLOWED to go to many countries, unless cia or dod provide him with some discrete means of transport, his historic legacy is well establish by now. AN @@@HOLE.
U SEA the dictionary suggested I spell his name with capital k I refused because I CAN.
I CANNOT TORTURE I CANNOT KILL BUT I CAN DO SO MUCH MORE, IF IM NOT AROUND, AN OTHER ONE WILL & AN OTHER ....
We must remove that capital K from kessinger because he K...illed, it was just an other preemptive war, that goes for his Russian, Chinese counterpart. We must give history the tools to REWRITE ITSELF, It is happening as I speak.
PS: For those who want to go underground thats COOL too.
They are torturing people all over the place including in the SO CALLED FREE WORLD, THE ONLY THING ITS FREE OF IS FREEDOM.
ONE HUMAN IS BEING TORTURED IN A ROOM AN OTHER ONE BEHIND THE WALLS, IS WATCHING NYPD BLUE & BORDER PATROL. A NEW BRAVE WORLD IS AWAITING IN THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.
No Terror No Torture Just Truth.
"However, a non-government party has never been prosecuted under the Espionage Act."
Please check your facts. This is an incorrect statement. The case that brought about the odious "clear and present danger" test, Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), was a case where an individual who encouraged others to resist the draft was prosecuted and convicted under the Espionage Act. Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919), was an Espionage Act prosecution of two defendants who denounced the US efforts to impede the Russian Revolution. Debs v. United States, 249 U.S. 211 (1919) involved an Espionage Act prosecution against Socialist Eugene V. Debs for making an anti-war speech.
I've only cited a few of the cases where individuals were prosecuted under the Espionage Act that reached the Supreme Court. There are undoubtedly others, were one to look further. The Espionage Act has always been a way of controlling left-wing social movements from taking root in the US. In the teens and twenties, AG Mitchell Palmer used the Espionage Act as a way to stem the red tide that was present in America at that time. The cases coming under this act show the true fascist nature of the supposed American democracy.
Notice that Obama's indictments are sought in the same right wing judicial district where Ken Starr always sought his various indictments against Clinton's friends and lovers. It's a conservative venire, chock full of families whose earnings come from the military-industrial complex. Obama could have sought a DC indictment, but a predominantly African American jury might be savvy enough to logjam Obama's fascist jaugernaut.
Yes, every day this country sinks lower and lower into the abyss.
Americans love to put Imperialists in the White House, otherwise why would we not vote for the likes of Nader, or Ron Paul?
Maybe Julian Assange should change his name to Julius Rosenberg, since our government is treating him like they treated the Rosenbergs.
And how's this for grotesque: Obama recently accepted an award for government transparency! He did it behind closed doors with no media coverage. Gee, I wonder why. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/obama-accepts-transparenc_n_843195.html)
Just another distraction for the right. We persecute the messenger and allow the rats to stay snug in their nests. Why have there never been hearings about the crimes of the past administration? Easy, The corporate masters would be displeased. This may well have gone too far to even slow down. If the men and women elected and sworn to our protection either can't or are unwilling to perform their responsibilities then we are well and truly screwed. The fact that the lip of the abyss is behind us may well be the reason the injustices have become so blatant.
No we are not screwed, we don't resist, we don't struggle we fight back. Many people did not know what they were fighting against, NOW they do, huge difference I could go on but I must go to a conference where those changes are taking place , take care.
No Terror ............U know the drillllllllllll
I want to encourage every individual to take on their state or town to open up their government to public access. You might want to check this:
http://scovlegal.blogspot.com/2011/05/come-to-sunshine.html#more