Assange faces assassination risk
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is at risk of being assassinated
over the release of secret US documents and will remain in hiding for
his own security, the website's spokesman said Wednesday.
Spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the Australian's safety was at
stake after US politicians called for him to face treason charges and an
adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reportedly said he
should be killed.
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WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson (C) listens to
questions from the media during an event at the Frontline
club in London, December 1. The disclosure of a trove of
confidential US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks is perfectly
legal, the spokesman for the whistle-blowing website said on
Wednesday. Photo by Reuters |
"We have had threats from governments and commentators, some of them
totally preposterous, even calls for the assassination of Julian Assange,"
Hrafnsson said during a debate at the Frontline Club in London.
"He is justified in being concerned for his safety. When you have
people calling, for example, for his assassination, it is best to keep a
low profile," he added.
Hrafnsson said Assange's whereabouts would remain secret. He is known
to have recently spent time in Sweden and London and is the subject of
an Interpol arrest request over a rape allegation in Sweden.
He has faced calls from the United States for his arrest, with Mike
Huckabee, a former Republican presidential hopeful, reportedly saying
that those responsible for the leaks were guilty of treason and should
face execution, CNN reported.
Separately, Tom Flanagan, an advisor to Canada's Prime Minister, said
flippantly in a television interview that Assange 'should be
assassinated' and that US President Barack Obama 'should put out a
contract and maybe use a drone.'
Hrafnsson, an Icelandic former journalist, defended Assange's
decision to remain in hiding and not to face up to the Swedish arrest
warrant, saying the timing of the Interpol alert was "curious".
"He is in a secret location and working on the project with a group
of our staff. It is necessary in the circumstances to keep his location
secret," Hrafnsson said.
The spokesman also pointed to the fact that WikiLeaks was suffering
repeated cyber attacks as evidence that it was being targeted.
"We know the interest of the US Government in bringing down WikiLeaks,"
he said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused WikiLeaks on Monday of an
'attack on the international community' by releasing the documents, but
Hrafnsson insisted that WikiLeaks had done nothing illegal.
"There has been a lot of talk about legal actions taken against
Wikileaks and Julian, about how we have done something illegal, that we
are criminals, but we have not seen any reference to how we are supposed
to have broken the law," he said. The Dawn |
