The days are numbered for the historical website that changed the face of journalism and the way information is obtained and disseminated. An end of WikiLeaks would mean nothing less than a dark spot on the face of freedom, a serious blow to the whistleblowers and to the cult of truth seekers.
The 10-month-old 'financial blockade' on the WikiLeaks Foundation has left it crippled with serious fund raising crisis which has reportedly purged nearly 95 percent of the website's revenues. "If WikiLeaks does not find a way to remove this blockade we will simply not be able to continue by the turn of the new year," its Founder Julian Assange had warned recently.
"I can imagine that it is bad for WikiLeaks. However, I have been concerned that most whistleblowers have better options for raising their concerns than WikiLeaks. I have not seen WikiLeaks do much to protect its sources. At the National Whistleblowers Center, our advice to whistleblowers is to get a lawyer. Experienced whistleblower attorneys can help someone assess the best routes for raising their concerns. Such attorneys would consider the likelihood that a particular avenue would result in the desired corrective action, payment of a reward for disclosures that result in the recovery of money by the government, or in legal protection against retaliation. To my knowledge, WikiLeaks does not do that," said Richard R. Renner, Legal Director of National Whistleblowers Center.
WikiLeaks redefined the effects of journalism and freedom of internet and press. While there won't be a dearth of takers for private information, leakers with such great access to information as WiliLeaks, would be hard to find. As the so-called guardians of democracy keep most of the details of their actions out of the public eye, WikiLeaks with its great levels of transparency and accountability, brought many of them to the public on which democracy is built upon. United Kingdom's decision to extradite Julian Assange to Sweden is seen as a serious blow to the Internet and press freedom.
"Julian's case is not related to Wikileaks. If it will be revealed that Sweden's decisions where stimulated by political agenda (for example influenced by US government) instead of law and justice, then the picture would change. So far this has not been proven so Julian's private case should be consider his private challenge until proven otherwise. Everything else is just wild speculation," Andreas Fink, CEO of DataCell ehf.
"I don't see the decision as related to press freedom per se, but given Assange's fame, it is of course not strange that many see the legal battles he is facing as directly related to his activities at WikiLeaks. I think, however, that it is a serious blow to the WikiLeaks organization. This legal case with Assange only does damage to WikiLeaks, and makes it more unlikely that people will be willing to use them as outlets for leaked information," opined Christian Christensen, Professor of Media & Communication Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.
"Sexual assault is a serious crime. If Assange is found guilty after a fair trial, then it would be just for him to be accountable for what he did, no matter what he has done for free expression. If he is found innocent, or he does not receive a fair trial, then the prosecution and extradition would have been a serious and unfair blow to WikiLeaks," said Richard Renner
It all seemed like a conspiracy, a well-executed plot to kill the whistleblower website. What else can this story tell us when the entire world cannot find a channel through which a person could support WikiLeaks?
Do these new development mean a death foretold forWikiLeaks? "It is hard to tell, but it seems that WikiLeaks is reaching a critical juncture. Whistle blowing sites like WikiLeaks rely upon whistleblowers to feel safe and secure when releasing their data. Having the head of the organization on the front page of major newspapers around the world hardly inspires confidence in terms of anonymity. So, things do not look good. Should WikiLeaks go under, I would consider it to be a major loss for the cause of transparency and accountability. The media - particularly in the U.S. - have been deficient in their coverage of events in Afghanistan and Iraq, and WikiLeaks have, in my opinion, done the global community a great service in exposing the mechanisms of power. We supposedly live in democracies, and, as such, we need to be aware of the things done in the name of democracy. In fact, we must be made aware," Christensen said.
However, the Legal Director at the National Whistleblowers Center, Mr. Renner believes that whistleblowers will continue to have options about how to raise their concerns and said the National Whistleblowers Center will continue to operate its Attorney Referral Service for those who make submissions through its confidential reporting system.
"I don't think so, and if yes, there will be others stepping in. Experience shows that the truth will always find a way to surface. Sooner or later," Fink firmly believes.
However, the intellectual revolutionist faces a bleak future ahead as it's most likely that he would find himself in a Swedish prison in no time if he fails to impede the extradition proceedings. His chances of escaping the extradition is highly unlikely and as his mother said, Assange seems to be closer to U.S. extradition now. There isn't much hope left and "it seems unlikely that his extradition to Sweden will be stopped," Christensen said. "Extradition from Sweden to the U.S. in this case is pretty unlikely. The Swedes will undoubtedly get pressure from the U.S., but the fallout from such a move would be immense, and so I think it would be surprise if it happened," he added.
Assange with his controversial cable leaks, faces legal actions in the United States and the prosecutors are thinking over criminal charges. He would be trialed under Espionage Act, and other legal and constitutional issues for the WikiLeaks exposures.
While hoping that Assange receives a full and fair trial of the charges against him, Renner says, "It remains to be seen whether the U.S. will prosecute Assange. If Assange is extradited to Sweden it could make it easier for the U.S. to prosecute him for violations of the Espionage Act. If the U.S. prosecutes Assange, it would be a severe attack on First Amendment rights and create a chilling effect on the press and on whistleblowers in the U.S. The prosecution of Assange or Wikileaks would be the same as criminally charging a newspaper. It would be a challenge to freedom of the press in the U.S."
"The Obama Administration has shown a greater propensity to prosecute whistleblowers than previous administrations have. I applaud those who join in using their rights of peaceful assembly and free speech to call on the administration to stop prosecuting whistleblowers, and to pardon whistleblowers like Bradley Manning, Bradley Birkenfeld and Tom Drake," he added.
However, Fink says, "Nobody has confirmed that he will be extradited to U.S. U.S. might want that but under what basis is very questionable because as a Wikileaks person, Julian has not broken any law. He (or lets better say Wikileaks as an organization) might have pissed of some government officials heavily but that's only the return for their abuse of powers. The government is elected to serve the people. So transparency should be the prime directive in a democracy. But U.S, has seem to have forgotten what a democracy is all about." "At the current time, it's a private case about rape in Sweden and that's it. I can not answer how much impact it would have to the Wikileaks organisation but I strongly believe they have well planned that case way ahead and have other people ready to take over. Julian is not irreplaceable," he added
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