Pirate Parties Condemn Violence Against Wikileaks' Staff

In a joint declaration with other Pirate Parties, today the Pirate Party of the United Kingdom strongly condemns any attacks on Wikileaks infrastructure and more so any attacks on Wikileaks staff, as reported by Wikileaks in March [1] and again by Julian Assange this week [2].

"Any democracy worth its name should distance itself immediately from any such actions" says Mark Wood, Vice-Secretary for Whistleblowing at Pirate Parties International and Member of the Board of Governors at Pirate Party UK. "Personal attacks and threats against anyone publishing information, are not what democracy is about. Should Wikileaks do anything illegal, they should be prosecuted through due process of law, which until now has - not surprisingly - not happened".

In a recent interview [2] Julian Assange, editor of Wikileaks, claims that two members of his staff have been murdered in Kenya, and that other staff have also been attacked in Luxembourg. These were new acts in a series of attacks against Wikileaks members as described in an earlier article [1]. Apart from these attacks, Wikileaks members were openly threatened by German BND [3] members.

"Again, we see many states, including some so-called democracies trying to inhibit the free flow of information that is inherent to the democratic principle" states Loz Kaye, Leader of Pirate Party UK. "It comes to show the sorry state our democracies have plunged to."

The Pirates Parties call for all democratic states to relent any attacks, to prosecute any persons or states that act through threats and violence and to actively condemn such activities for what they are: an attack on the freedoms that make up a democracy.

We urge each and every state and each journalist worth his reputation to investigate these attacks and shed the same light on them that Wikileaks has shed on this matter, which should concern all citizens.

Signed by the following parties:
- Pirate Party of Austria - Piratenpartei Österreichs
- Pirate Party of France - Parti Pirate français
- Pirate Party of Germany - Piratenpartei Deutschland
- Pirate Party of Italy - Partito Pirata Italiano
- Pirate Party Luxembourg - Piratepartei Lëtzebuerg
- Pirate Party of Switzerland
- Pirate Party of the United Kingdom
- Pirate Party of Russia - ????????? ?????? ??????

[1] "WikiLeaks Statement on Recent Events" - 26th March 2010
[2] Julian Assange : “Je n’ai pas le choix. Publier ou périr” - 26th December 2010
[3] Federal Intelligence Service - Bundesnachrichtendienst

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For press inquiries and interviews specific to these issues please contact;
Mark Wood
M.Wood@pirateparty.org.uk