WikiLeaks founder: the idea was to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth

PanARMENIAN.Net - Julian Assange has launched a scathing attack on Australian PM Julia Gillard, accusing her of trying to "shoot the messenger" and failing to protect one of her country’s citizens against death threats from foreign politicians.

The charges appeared on the website of The Australian newspaper as Assange himself arrived to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.

Assange was arrested on the morning of December 7 at around 9:30 GMT by the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit, following the receipt of a European arrest warrant sent authorities in Sweden, where Assange is accused of rape and sexual molestation - charges he says are politically motivated, and part of a smear campaign.

Writing in The Australian’s Media Diary Blog, Assange described Prime Minister Gillard’s “disgraceful pandering” to American pressure over 'Cablegate', WikiLeaks’ recent release of secret cables sent by US embassies worldwide.

"We are the underdogs," claimed Assange. "The Gillard government is trying to shoot the messenger because it doesn’t want the truth revealed, including information about its own diplomatic and political dealings."

The WikiLeaks founder is also reportedly considering legal action against Gillard for defamation, after she accused Assange of "illegal" action when speaking outside parliament, without the benefit of parliamentary immunity.

In an emotive defence of what he calls WikiLeaks’ “scientific journalism”, Assange revealed his small-town upbringing had been a major influence on his activism:

“I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. They distrusted big government as something that could be corrupted if not watched carefully.

"These things have stayed with me. WikiLeaks was created around these core values. The idea, conceived in Australia, was to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth.

Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.

People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars. But there is nothing more wrong than a government lying to its people about those wars, then asking these same citizens to put their lives and their taxes on the line for those lies. If a war is justified, then tell the truth and the people will decide whether to support it.”

Assange slammed what he called the "provably false chorus" of claims by senior Australian politicians that WikiLeaks had endangered lives, and rounded on Gillard and Australian attorney-general Robert McClelland for having failed to provide him, as an Australian citizen, with protection after prominent figures in the US had called for his assassination, The Australian reported.