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WikiLeaks probed Swedish journos: report

Swedish journalists were the subject of a secret probe by WikiLeaks aimed at exposing what leaders of the whistleblower website are convinced is a conspiracy by Sweden against founder Julian Assange.

WikiLeaks probed Swedish journos: report

According to Swedish tabloid Expressen, WikiLeaks tasked a team of activists to secretly investigate the newspaper’s editor, Thomas Mattson, as well as Ulrika Knutson, the head of Sweden’s National Press Club (Publicistklubben).

“They have ascertained that at least three reporters who work for two different media houses are involved in the conspiracy,” WikiLeaks sources told Expressen.

“They have surreptitiously photographed people suspected of being involved in the conspiracy against Assange, they have also accessed information from public records and gained access to secret material from government databases.”

Expressen is the Swedish newspaper which first reported in August 2010 that Assange had been accused of sex crimes and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

WikiLeaks and Assange have long claimed that the sex crimes accusations are part of a larger conspiracy against him in response to the websites release of thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables.

According to Expressen’s sources, WikiLeaks leaders believe Swedish journalists, politicians, and government officials are involved in the alleged conspiracy and have been working on measures to “reveal the conspiracy” in order to prevent Assange from eventually being extradited to the US.

When told WikiLeaks had been gathering information on her, National Press Club head Knutson told Expressen “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry”.

According to Expressen editor Mattson, “WikiLeaks has attacked Expressen” ever since the paper’s scoop regarding the sex crime allegations against Assange.

“I consider the investigation of me and other Swedish journalists as an attempt to find something that can be used to question relevant news coverage about Wikileaks,” he said.

Writing about the matter on his official blog, Mattson emphasized the importance of distinguishing the work of WikiLeaks from Assange.

“WikiLeaks is important. But Assange is irresponsible when he criticizes independent media like this,” wrote Matsson.

“The attempt to map Swedish publishers like Ulrika Knutson and me in the hope of being able to expose a conspiracy in which journalists accept payment to write negatively about WikiLeaks unfortunately shows a complete lack of knowledge about how independent news gathering works.”

WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson denied the website had engaged in any sort of probe of Mattson or other Swedish journalists.

“No, I’m not aware of any investigation taken place,” she told Expressen.

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SPAIN

Spanish ring ‘tried to extort €3m from Wikileaks’: Assange lawyers

Julian Assange's lawyers have filed a court complaint in Spain against a group of Spaniards they allege extorted the WikiLeaks founder and Ecuador's foreign ministry, a source in his defence team said on Saturday.

Spanish ring 'tried to extort €3m from Wikileaks': Assange lawyers
A video grab shows Julian Assange being driven away by British police after his arrest. Photo: AFP
Assange, who for seven years lived holed up in London's Ecuadoran embassy where he had taken refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape accusations, was arrested on April 11 after Quito terminated his asylum.
   
The 47-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, which exposed everything from US military secrets to the wealthy's tax evasion, is now awaiting sentencing for breaching his British bail conditions in 2012.
 
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said the complaint was against “a group of Spaniards who allegedly engaged in extortion and the embassy's employees and Ecuador's foreign ministry.”
   
The source added an investigation was ongoing and alleged “espionage” in the embassy against Assange, refusing to give further details.
 
According to Spanish media reports, four Spaniards have videos and personal documents of Assange. Online daily eldiario.es said they somehow got these via an alleged spying system set up in the embassy that included security cameras and employees taking photos of all documents handled by Assange.
   
They allegedly tried to extort three million euros ($3.3 million) out of WikiLeaks not to publish any of it, Spanish media report.
   
Eldiario.es, which had access to the written complaint that was filed to Spain's top-level National Court, says Assange's lawyers also accuse Ecuador of spying on him. The National Court could not comment when contacted by AFP.
 
That contrasts with Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno's version of events. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he alleged Assange had tried to set up a “centre for spying” in Ecuador's embassy.
   
Last year, Quito cut his internet and mobile phone access, accusing him of breaking “a written commitment” not to interfere in its and allies' foreign policies.
   
The move infuriated Assange, who sued the government for violating his “fundamental rights” by limiting his access to the outside world.
   
Now in prison in Britain, Assange is also fighting a US extradition warrant relating to the release by WikiLeaks of a huge cache of official documents.
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