US draws up ‘secret charges’ against Assange

In what can be seen as more trouble brewing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, US prosecutors have drawn up ‘secret charges’ against him, a confidential email quoted by Australian media said.

US-based global intelligence company Stratfor is said to be behind the email.

Sydney Morning Herald has quoted an internal communication between Stratfor analysts and vice-president of intelligence Fred Burton in which Burton said: “We have a sealed indictment on Assange.”

The newspaper also said that the information also had a request ‘to protect it and not publish’, including that the vice-president of intelligence Fred Burton had secure binding with the US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Julian Assange, the Australian publisher and founder of WikiLeaks, is currently awaiting Britain’s Supreme Court verdict on his appeal against extradition to Sweden on allegations of sexual molestation.

He has denied allegations and claims that they are politically motivated.

Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson said, “Irrespective of what happens now we have confirmation that there is a sealed indictment, that we could be seeing an extradition request from the US irrespective of the outcome.”

She also said, “We will not permit, and we will not tolerate Assange’s transfer to the US, to face charges that could potentially land him in prison, potentially for decades."

"It is time the Australian government and the Australian people start asking questions. He is an Australian citizen and he deserves our protection,” she added.

US-based Stratfor spied on Bhopal activists for Dow Chemicals

US-based security think-tank Stratfor spied for the Dow Chemicals on the activists of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, WikiLeaks alleged on Monday as the whistleblower website started publishing millions of confidential emails of this prominent private intelligence analyst group.

The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011, WikiLeaks said.

"They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency," WikiLeaks alleged.

Stratfor was not immediately available for its reaction on the allegations by WikiLeaks. But the website of this Texas-based organisation said that it is offering all its contents for free.

"I wanted to warn you that individuals continue to send out false communications that appear to be from Stratfor.

These spam emails may contain malware and attachments, and may attempt to lead you to websites that look like our own. They may also attempt to convince you to provide your private information," says Stratfor CEO George Friedman on its website.

The emails posted by WikiLeaks on its website, revealed that Stratfor not only provided to Dow Chemicals and Union Carbide the analysis of the daily developments on the case related to the Bhopal Gas tragedy in Indian courts, but also the activities including the travel plans and like where they are staying or what they plan to do.

Media has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of these emails.

The correspondence also contains code names for people of particular interest such as 'Hizzies' (members of Hezbollah), or 'Adogg' (Mahmoud Ahmedinejad), WikiLeaks alleged.

The whistleblower website said that Stratfor did secret deals with dozens of media organisations and journalists.

WikiLeaks, claimed, to have also obtained Stratfor's list of informants and, in many cases, records of its payoffs, including USD 1,200 a month paid to the informant "Geronimo" , handled by Stratfor's Former State Department agent Fred Burton.

WikiLeaks has built an investigative partnership with more than 25 media organisations, including The Hindu from India. The organisations were provided access to a sophisticated investigative database developed by WikiLeaks and together with WikiLeaks are conducting journalistic evaluations of these emails.