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WikiLeaks came under attack, with American politicians and rightwing<br />

pundits calling for all <strong>of</strong> us to be designated as terrorists, some even<br />

calling for my assassination and <strong>the</strong> kidnapping <strong>of</strong> our staff. Speaking on<br />

Meet The Press, Vice President Joe Biden referred to me as a "high-tech<br />

terrorist," while Senator Joe Lieberman demanded that we be prosecuted<br />

under <strong>the</strong> U.S. Espionage Act. The Department <strong>of</strong> Justice spokesperson<br />

Dean Boyd admitted as recently as July 2012 that <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong><br />

Justice investigation into WikiLeaks is ongoing, and <strong>the</strong> Pentagon renewed<br />

its threats against us on September 28th, declaring our work an "ongoing<br />

crime." As a result, I have been granted political asylum and now live in<br />

<strong>the</strong> Ecuadorian embassy in London, surrounded by armed police while <strong>the</strong><br />

FBI portion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> "whole <strong>of</strong> government" investigation against us,<br />

according to court testimony, had reached 42,135 pages as <strong>of</strong> December<br />

last year.<br />

Earlier this week, WikiLeaks released European Commission<br />

documents showing that Senator Lieberman and Congressman Peter T.<br />

King directly influenced decisions by PayPal, Visa and MasterCard to<br />

block donations to WikiLeaks, which has blocked 95 percent <strong>of</strong> our donors<br />

since December <strong>of</strong> 2010. Last week <strong>the</strong> European Parliament expressed its<br />

will that <strong>the</strong> Commission should prevent <strong>the</strong> arbitrary blockade <strong>of</strong><br />

WikiLeaks.<br />

Bradley Manning, who is alleged to be a source <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cables, started<br />

testifying on Thursday about his pre-trial treatment, which UN Special<br />

Rapporteur Juan Mendez said was "at a minimum cruel, inhuman and<br />

degrading treatment in violation <strong>of</strong> Article 16 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Convention against<br />

Torture." Captain William Hoctor, <strong>the</strong> government psychiatrist with 24<br />

years <strong>of</strong> experience who evaluated Manning at Quantico base in Virginia,<br />

testified that brig commanders had ignored his recommendations for<br />

Manning's detention, something he had not even experienced in his work<br />

at Guantánamo bay prison.<br />

Bradley Manning has been detained without trial for 921 days. This is<br />

<strong>the</strong> longest pre-trial detention <strong>of</strong> a U.S. military soldier since at least <strong>the</strong><br />

Vietnam War. U.S. military law says <strong>the</strong> maximum is 120 days.

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