Charge ex-Harper adviser for ‘contract’ quip, Assange says
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/12/2010 (5452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA — The founder of WikiLeaks says former Stephen Harper adviser Tom Flanagan should be charged with incitement to commit murder for suggesting he should be assassinated.
Julian Assange was speaking Friday in an online forum run by Britain’s Guardian newspaper and was asked about flippant comments Flanagan made during a television broadcast this week.
“It is correct that Mr. Flanagan and the others seriously making these statements should be charged with incitement to commit murder,” Assange replied to the online question-and-answer session from an undisclosed location.
Flanagan mused on a CBC political talk-show panel that U.S. President Barack Obama should consider assassinating Assange.
“I think Obama should put out a contract or maybe use a drone or something.” The University of Calgary professor has since apologized for the remarks, saying he wasn’t seriously suggesting Assange should be killed. Flanagan couldn’t be reached for comment Friday on Assange’s response.
Flanagan has not advised the prime minister for years and the Conservative government has disavowed all connection to him in recent days.
A spokesman for WikiLeaks has noted that various pundits in the United States and Canada have called for Assange to be hunted down or killed.
“The threats against our lives are a matter of public record. However, we are taking the appropriate precautions to the degree that we are able when dealing with a superpower,” Assange said.
The CBC ombudsman has referred complaints about Flanagan’s comments to the news department for a response, said Jeff Keay, a spokesman for the public broadcaster.
Meanwhile, global law enforcement continues its hunt for Assange. Swedish authorities won a court ruling against Assange on Thursday in their bid to arrest him for questioning in a rape case.
British intelligence is said to know where in England he’s hiding, and U.S. commentators and politicians are demanding he be hunted down or worse.
Interpol has a warrant out for him.
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks’ American domain-name system provider withdrew service to the wikileaks.org name after the secret-spilling website once again became the target of hacker attacks.
EveryDNS said it dropped the website late Thursday because the attacks threatened the rest of its network.
WikiLeaks responded by moving to a Swiss domain name, wikileaks.ch.
— CP, with files from AP