WikiLeaks Stops Publishing to Take on Banks

WikiLeaks has suspended publication of leaked documents and will focus all its energy on fighting the blockage by banks, which it says has cut off 95 percent of the organization’s revenue.

The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process. It is without democratic oversight or transparency.

—Julian Assange, founder WikiLeaks

The organization said on Monday that it has been surviving on cash reserves and would only make it through the end of the year unless the blockage is lifted.

At a press conference in London, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson and founder Julian Assange also announced that it would be relaunching its document submission system at the end of November.
Assange said the current secure online certificate system (https) had been infiltrated by intelligence agencies.

Various banking organizations have effectively blocked WikiLeak’s finances since the end of last November, when it published reams of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables.

“Since Dec. 7, 2010, an arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade has been imposed by Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, and Western Union,” Assange read from a statement. The banks and money transfer organizations are refusing to process payments to WikiLeaks.

“The blockade came into force within 10 days of the launch of Cablegate as part of a concerted U.S.-based, political attack that included vitriol by senior right-wing politicians, including assassination calls against WikiLeaks staff,” he added.

“The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process. It is without democratic oversight or transparency. Our scarce resources now must focus on fighting the unlawful banking blockade.”

The organization has started legal proceedings in a number of countries, including Iceland, Denmark, the U.K., Brussels, the United States and Australia. However, they are placing strong hopes in a complaint to the European Commission. They point out that Visa and MasterCard control a combined 97 percent of financial transactions in Europe.

“We have lodged an anti-trust complaint at the European Commission and expect a decision by mid-November as to whether the European Competition Authority will open a full investigation into the wrongdoing of Visa and MasterCard,” said the statement.

The organization said that taking on the banks is not just about its own survival but also about fighting for much broader principles of free speech.

“If this financial attack stands unchallenged, a dangerous, oppressive, and undemocratic precedent will have been set, the implications of which go far beyond WikiLeaks and its work. Any organization that falls foul of powerful finance companies or their political allies can expect similar extrajudicial action. Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and other international NGOs that work to expose the wrongdoing of powerful players risk the same fate as WikiLeaks,” Assange read.

Assange added that donations to WikiLeaks did not go into funding his personal legal case against extradition to Sweden. He said that ironically, donations to that cause were not being blocked by the banks.