Julian Assange, founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks, has been denied a residence permit in Sweden, an official of the National Migration Board told media on Monday.
Gunilla Wikström, of the board, told Aftonbladet and AFP that they decided to reject his application. She didn’t give any further specifics.
Assange’s Swedish residency would have meant that the whistleblowers of the Wikileaks website would have been well protected by Swedish laws for press freedom, the Local reported.
According to the WikiLeaks website, it “publishes and comments on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct,” so they are motivated to provide their sources the best protection in order to stimulate whistleblowing.
Last summer, WikiLeaks published thousands of secret Afghan war documents and was reportedly to publish thousands of documents of the Iraqi war. WikiLeaks has servers operating in several countries, including Sweden. A few days after the Australian made his request for a residence and work permit on Aug. 18, Assange was accused of rape and molestation in Sweden. A cancellation of the charge a few days later was followed by an appeal and Assange at this time is still under investigation.
Gunilla Wikström, of the board, told Aftonbladet and AFP that they decided to reject his application. She didn’t give any further specifics.
Assange’s Swedish residency would have meant that the whistleblowers of the Wikileaks website would have been well protected by Swedish laws for press freedom, the Local reported.
According to the WikiLeaks website, it “publishes and comments on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct,” so they are motivated to provide their sources the best protection in order to stimulate whistleblowing.
Last summer, WikiLeaks published thousands of secret Afghan war documents and was reportedly to publish thousands of documents of the Iraqi war. WikiLeaks has servers operating in several countries, including Sweden. A few days after the Australian made his request for a residence and work permit on Aug. 18, Assange was accused of rape and molestation in Sweden. A cancellation of the charge a few days later was followed by an appeal and Assange at this time is still under investigation.
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