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October 25, 2011

WikiLeaks May Be Forced to Close Down Due to "Financial Blockade" 
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Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange said Monday his website has
temporarily stopped publishing new documents and may soon be forced to
shut down due to funding problems. Assange accused Mastercard, Visa, Pay
Pal, Bank of America and others of blocking donations to Wiki Leaks for
nearly a year.

Julian Assange: "Since the 7th of December 2010, an arbitrary and
unlawful financial blockade imposed by the Bank of America, VISA,
Mastercard, Pay Pal and Western Union has destroyed 95 percent of our
revenue ... In order to ensure our future survival, Wiki Leaks is now
forced to temporarily suspend all publishing operations in order to
direct all our resources into fighting the blockade and raising funds."

Assange criticized the financial service companies for targeting Wiki
Leaks, even though the company has never been charged with a crime.

Julian Assange: "As a result, Wiki Leaks has been running on cash
reserves for the last 11 months. The blockade has cost the organization
tens of millions of dollars in lost donations at a time of unprecedented
costs resulting from publishing alliances in over 50 countries with over
90 media and human rights organizations. Our scarce resources now must
focus entirely on fighting this unlawful financial blockade."



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