Cash flow to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, was cut off on Monday. The bank of the Swiss post office, PostFinance, closed Assange’s bank account over providing false address information.
Assange said he lives in Geneva, which “upon inspection” proved to be incorrect according to a statement from PostFinance.
“Assange cannot provide proof of residence in Switzerland, and thus does not meet the criteria for a customer relationship with PostFinance,” says the statement.
As a “homeless refugee” Assange had used his lawyer’s address in Geneva, according to a press release by WikiLeaks on Monday.
The Swiss bank account contained $41,189 including WikiLeaks’ funds and personal assets. The money is now frozen according to WikiLeaks.
Last week, PayPal, an international money transfer service, also closed WikiLeaks’ account, freezing $79,644 in assets.
On the WikiLeaks website, visitors are encouraged to donate to the site. A banner on the homepage shows a picture of Assange with the words “Keep Us Strong,” beside it.
Assange’s account in Switzerland was used for the “Julian Assange Defense Fund.” According to the organization, these funds are to be used “exclusively for legal defense costs,” for Assange and other WikiLeaks staff.
On Nov. 28, WikiLeaks started releasing a total of 251,287 secret U.S. Embassy cables. To date, 933 documents have been published on the website.
Washington has strongly condemned what it describes as an “illegal disclosure of classified information,” and has been under intense pressure to stop its crimes.
On Dec. 1, State Department spokesperson Philip J. Crowley told reporters that the DOS, in an exchange of letters, call on “WikiLeaks and Julian Assange to cease releasing this information, which is a continuation of the crime, which we believe occurred here in the United States. He has the power to do that. And that would be the most effective way to stop further compromise of this material and further damage to our national interests.”
WikiLeaks website has been mostly down since last Friday. Last Wednesday, Amazon downed the organization’s servers it was hosting.
However, on Monday the organization said the WikiLeaks website and a special site containing the secret embassy cables had been copied 507 times on the Web, in a bid to “make it impossible to ever fully remove WikiLeaks.” On Friday, WikiLeaks also moved its site to a Swiss Web host.
British police received an international arrest warrant for Julian Assange on Monday. According to a Twitter message from WikiLeaks, the U.K. has received the arrest warrant and “may issue it shortly.” Julian Assange is believed to be currently in the United Kingdom.
Sweden put out an international arrest warrant for Assange, where he is accused of rape, sexual molestation, and unlawful coercion of two women. According to Assange the accusations are part of a smear campaign against him.
Assange said he lives in Geneva, which “upon inspection” proved to be incorrect according to a statement from PostFinance.
“Assange cannot provide proof of residence in Switzerland, and thus does not meet the criteria for a customer relationship with PostFinance,” says the statement.
As a “homeless refugee” Assange had used his lawyer’s address in Geneva, according to a press release by WikiLeaks on Monday.
The Swiss bank account contained $41,189 including WikiLeaks’ funds and personal assets. The money is now frozen according to WikiLeaks.
Last week, PayPal, an international money transfer service, also closed WikiLeaks’ account, freezing $79,644 in assets.
On the WikiLeaks website, visitors are encouraged to donate to the site. A banner on the homepage shows a picture of Assange with the words “Keep Us Strong,” beside it.
Assange’s account in Switzerland was used for the “Julian Assange Defense Fund.” According to the organization, these funds are to be used “exclusively for legal defense costs,” for Assange and other WikiLeaks staff.
On Nov. 28, WikiLeaks started releasing a total of 251,287 secret U.S. Embassy cables. To date, 933 documents have been published on the website.
Washington has strongly condemned what it describes as an “illegal disclosure of classified information,” and has been under intense pressure to stop its crimes.
On Dec. 1, State Department spokesperson Philip J. Crowley told reporters that the DOS, in an exchange of letters, call on “WikiLeaks and Julian Assange to cease releasing this information, which is a continuation of the crime, which we believe occurred here in the United States. He has the power to do that. And that would be the most effective way to stop further compromise of this material and further damage to our national interests.”
WikiLeaks website has been mostly down since last Friday. Last Wednesday, Amazon downed the organization’s servers it was hosting.
However, on Monday the organization said the WikiLeaks website and a special site containing the secret embassy cables had been copied 507 times on the Web, in a bid to “make it impossible to ever fully remove WikiLeaks.” On Friday, WikiLeaks also moved its site to a Swiss Web host.
British police received an international arrest warrant for Julian Assange on Monday. According to a Twitter message from WikiLeaks, the U.K. has received the arrest warrant and “may issue it shortly.” Julian Assange is believed to be currently in the United Kingdom.
Sweden put out an international arrest warrant for Assange, where he is accused of rape, sexual molestation, and unlawful coercion of two women. According to Assange the accusations are part of a smear campaign against him.
Friends Read Free