What secrets did Wikileaks reveal? Julian Assange’s group released details of US helicopter attack on journalists plus details of Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghan wars

With the controversial Julian Assange before the Supreme Court, this could be his last chance to avoid extradition to the US, where he could be the first person ever convicted under the Espionage Act.

Last month, the UK Supreme Court confirmed that his public hearing would take place on February 20 and 21.

If extradited, 52-year-old Assange faces up to 175 years in prison.

The Wikileaks founder has been held at HMP Belmarsh in London since April 2019, after being forcibly removed from Ecuador’s embassy when his seven-year diplomatic asylum was revoked.

As his trial continues, MailOnline documents Julian Assange’s key WikiLeaks revelations – particularly the video that thrust WikiLeaks into the spotlight.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Great Britain, on January 13, 2020

The video that made WIkileaks’ name shows footage of American Apache helicopters opening fire in Baghdad, Iraq.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released the footage in a 39-minute video titled Collateral Murder.

It was first released at an April 5 press conference at the US National Press Club and WikiLeaks claimed the footage showed the “murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists.”

They also claimed the source was “a number of military whistleblowers.”

The video showed that the air-to-ground strikes took place by two US military helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad, after the US invasion of Iraq, during the insurgency in Iraq.

A crew shot at a group of civilians, killing several victims, including two Reuters journalists, Iraqis Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen, before laughing and mocking them.

A second attack targeted a van driven by Saleh Matasher Tomal, a man who was helping the injured Chmagh. The two men were killed and two of Tomal’s children were seriously injured.

Images from the footage of air strikes in Iraq by the US military. In 2010, WikiLeaks released footage in a 39-minute video titled Collateral Murder

Above is the late Namir Noor-Eldeen, an Iraqi war photojournalist who was killed by the US military during the insurgency in Iraq after their invasion of Iraq

In the third and final attack, the American pilots watched people approach a building before attacking the location with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

Throughout the video, victims included journalists and children, resulting in approximately 12 to 18 civilian deaths.

US presenter Stephen Colbert accused Assange of making editorial contributions by titling the video Collateral Murder – an accusation Assange agreed with.

In the years that followed, the group published a series of leaks from US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

The leaks include a total of 75,000 documents related to the war in Afghanistan and approximately 390,000 military field reports related to the war in Iraq.

In 2011, Assange published the Guantanamo Files after receiving information from Manning, a year after leaking war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq.

The 779 secret documents detail the treatment of prisoners held in the Cuban military prison.

They include classified assessments and interviews written by the Pentagon’s Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

The confidential documents were clearly marked as ‘secret’ and also labeled NOFORN – do not release to foreigners.

An Army soldier stands at the entrance to Camp Delta, which houses prisoners from the U.S. war in Afghanistan, April 7, 2004 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

The documents, believed to have been released by Manning in 2010, revealed the harsh conditions inmates were allegedly subjected to, and also alleged that many had been wrongly convicted.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking the files before Barack Obama reduced her sentence and freed her in 2017.

WikiLeaks also revealed members of the BNP and sensitive details in 2009: the British National Party.

This included members’ telephone numbers and addresses in addition to their names.

Thousands of names were included and the source and then chairman of BNP Nick Griffin claimed that the anonymous source who leaked the information was a former senior employee.

Members included police officers, religious leaders, doctors and teachers. British police officers have been banned from joining the BNP and at least one officer was kicked out of the force as a result of the leak.

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