Julian Assange - WikiLeaks Warrior for Truth by Valerie Guichaoua & Sophie Radermecker Virtual Words Translations - Natasha Cloutier With the collaboration of Franck Bachelin Julian Assange - WikiLeaks Warrior for Truth Published by Cogito Media Group. Copyright ©2011 Valerie Guichaoua & Sophie Radermecker The reproduction or transmission of any part of this publication in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, or storage in a retrieval system, without prior consent of the publisher, is an infringe- ment of copyright law. In the case of photocopying or other reprographic production of the material, a license must be obtained from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright) before proceeding. ISBN: 978-1-926893-55-6 Cover design: François Turgeon and Kayo Tomura Text design and composition: Benjamin Roland Cover photo: © Photography by Jillian Edelstein, CAMERA PRESS LONDON Authors photography: © Arber Kucana Cogito Media Group 279 Sherbrooke Street West Suite#305 Montréal, Quebec H2X 1Y2 CANADA Phone : + 1.514.273.0123 www.cogitomedias.com Printed and Bound in the United States of America Contents Acknowledgments 9 Foreword 13 Climax 19 Part I 25 1. Magnetic Island 27 2. Élise 33 Part II 43 3. Mendax 45 4. Hackers’ dialogue 52 5. Sophox 63 Part III 69 6. Élise and Xavier 71 7. Life Experience 79 Part IV 93 8. Maternal Influence 95 9. Inspiration and Reference 101 Part V 109 10. The Genesis of WikiLeaks 111 11. The Organization 116 12. The First Leaks 128 13. Julian as seen by Élise 139 Part VI 149 14. A Chain of Leaks 151 15. Project B 161 Part VII 177 16. Iceland 179 17. A Fellow Traveler 188 18. A Friend Who Wishes You Well 195 19. A Holographic Committee 198 20. The Double 204 21. Cryptome 209 22. DDoS: Daniel Domscheit-Berg Or Schmitt 216 23. David against Goliath 235 24. Political Support 242 Part VIII 255 25. Family heritage 257 26. Assange’s shadows 262 27. Shockwaves 270 28. An Unexpected Partnership 285 29. Revolution 297 30. A 180-Degree Turn 308 31. Transparency 318 Part IX 329 32. A Man and His Opposite 333 33. Reprisals 342 34. The Prosecutors’ Stories 350 35. Clashing truths 360 36. Heading to Surrender 369 37. Behind Bars 380 Conclusion 391 Epilogue 395 Acknowledgments From The Authors We would like to take a moment to thank all of the people who helped us carry out this incredible feat. First, our contacts, Elisabeth Nataf and Bob Oré. Thanks to both of you for giving us the wonderful opportunity to write this extremely interesting book. Thanks to our publisher Pierre Turgeon for all the confidence he had in us. The utmost recognition goes to Franck Bachelin, without whom we would not have been able to write this book. He was a collaborator throughout the entire process of this project. Thanks to his thorough research, he was able to provide us with exclusive documents that greatly helped us in our work. His help was essential. A big thanks to the entire team of Cogito Média for their incredible work. We would like to thank all the people we met: Xavier Damman, Frédéric Jacobs, Jonas Morian, Ian Katz, Ian Traynor, Nick Davies, Christian Engström and Henrik Alexandersson, as well as our anonymous sources who prefer to stay in the shadows. We would also like to thank the people who opened doors for us in Iceland and Sweden: Cécilia, Jonas and Stina in Stockholm, and Leifur and Carl in Iceland. 10 Julian Assange Thanks to Martina Norell for these precious contacts. A warm thanks to Arnaud Ozharun who made us beautiful by taking care of us at Natural Mind, and to Letizia Ferrara. Thanks to all the bloggers who provide analyses and to all Internet users who express themselves online. From Valérie Thanks to Sophie for having introduced me to such a passionate project and for being the guardian in terms of taking care that the project should unfold properly. Thanks to my children Chloé, Pol and Lilou for supporting me during the intense writing of this book. Thanks to my husband who assisted me while I took a plunge into the universe of Julian Assange. I have a deep appreciation for his wise advice, patient reviewing and extraordinary listening capabilities. I would like to emphasize my great interest in Joseph Campbell and his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. His inspiration was great in aiding in the understanding the heroes of our times. From Sophie Thanks to my two number one fans: my sisters Valérie and Muriel for their unconditional support at all times. Big hugs to Léa and Matéo who pamper me with their amazement seen through their drawings and to Justine who warmed my heart with her I love you’s. A naughty thought for my granny and a wink to the entire ‘Rader’ clan. My thoughts go out to my parents: to my adorable father and my exceptional mother. To you, who have read so many books in your life, this work is dedicated to you with all my love. WikiLeaks 11 I would also like to warmly thank my friends in Brussels: Aude, Marc, Maria, Philip, Nathalie, Yves, Co, Lio and Emmanuelle. Thanks to the unexpected people, particularly Charlotte, Richard and Matthaios. A special dedication to my master M.M. who guided me with such kindness. Finally, a special tribute, full of tenderness to my friend and partner Valérie, without whom I never could have written this book. Foreword Our human stories are linked to myths through an imaginary world. Throughout our lives we go through many stages that open up paths that lead us back to ourselves. Some of us become heroes. It may sound like a big word, but not if it is defined as a person who will mark our lives forever. The challenge here was to evaluate the accomplishments of a living person. Julian Assange wants to change the world. Without any judgment, we followed his path from his birth until present day. We wanted to understand the man through his story. Not judge him, but rather present him as close as possible to who he is, and especially, what he reveals about himself. We took care to separate his personal story from his mission by highlighting his accomplishments: freedom of the press and freedom of expression on the Internet. It seems clear to us that Julian Assange’s actions should elevate him to the level of hero as defined by Joseph Campbell1. In fact, since his commitment to the mission of the Internet, Julian Assange has overcome many challenges that make him an extraordinary man. With his determination to open the channels of truth, he has been through a long process of self-discovery and has uncovered his true personality. Our goal was to collect and verify enough information so that readers could ask themselves different questions than those that 1 Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an American mythologist famous for his thoughts on heroes, their motivations, their success as well as their mistakes. 14 Julian Assange have already been asked by the media. Does Julian deserve to be judged like an ordinary man or does he deserve to be considered a warrior of truth? By searching the vast immaterial world of the Internet, we found people who were involved and responsible: hackers and bloggers seeking the truth and committed to sharing information. We also noticed that many of them are sometimes better informed than journalists. WikiLeaks has redefined the role of the media. That is why we introduced the fictive characters of Élise and Xavier, inspired by our meetings with hackers and bloggers, as well as what we read on blogs. They represent the individuals who are active online, and we wanted to pay tribute to them as well. To become a hero, Julian Assange needed troops to support him, people who were also attracted to the adventure that one may call the Internet, to join and reinforce his actions. As a man, he must also face the accusations made against him. Everyone will be able to either understand and accept him or condemn him after reading this book. Julian Assange is a hero of our time for having dared to go so far in his actions and for having pushed the repressive boundaries of the established rules of the media and the way information is shared with the general public. To commit and act, putting his life in danger for what he believes in seems extremely honorable to us. He shows us that a group of people can oppose a perfectly dehumanized bureaucracy, and it is because of this that we feel his actions deserve to be pointed out. Will going above and beyond make him a better man? We don’t think so. We’re only spectators of the Assange affair currently in conflict with the authorities. However, we also have a role to play in defending our freedom on the Internet. Let us be WikiLeaks 15 able to mobilize and change the way governments around the world try to regulate the flow of information on the Internet. May this book impassion and inform so that everyone can take a position and respond with fair thoughts, fair opinion and fair action. Men and women have already committed themselves: Kristinn Hrafnsson and Jacob Appelbaum with their constant work for and with WikiLeaks; Birgitta Jónsdóttir for her balanced stance on Assange and for her actions in favor of freedom of the press accompanied by Smári McCarthy; John Young for his commitment through his site Cryptome; Daniel Domscheit-Berg and his friends in the torch they lit with OpenLeaks, and so many others..