Democracy Now! | Exclusive: Inside Embassy Refuge, Julian Assange on WikiLeaks, Snowden & His New Bid for Freedom, July 7, 2014

Source: democracynow.org, wikileaks.org



In a Democracy Now! exclusive, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange joins us from Ecuador's embassy in London. It is the first time a U.S. news program has gone inside Assange's place of refuge, where he has entered his third year in political asylum while he faces investigations in both Sweden and the United States.

In the United States, a secret grand jury is investigating WikiLeaks for its role in publishing a trove of leaked documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as classified State Department cables. In Sweden, Assange is wanted for questioning on allegations of sexual misconduct though no charges have been filed. Late last week, there was the first break in the latter case in two years, when a Swedish court announced it would hold a hearing on July 16 about a request by his lawyers for prosecutors to hand over new evidence and withdraw the arrest warrant. In the first of a two-part interview, Assange discusses his new legal bid in Sweden, the ongoing grand jury probe in the United States, and WikiLeaks' efforts to assist National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.