16th Jan 11
WikiLeaks defended by Indian journalists at British parliament
by Adam Richards
The controversial whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks and its embattled founder Julian Assange have been defended by a leading journalist from India. The journalist said that neither Mr Assange nor his website deserved to be treated like criminals for upholding a freedom that is not present in many countries throughout the world. The comments have come at a time when the United States is looking to charge Mr Assange for the revelations made of US state secrets.
Ashis Ray, who heads the Indian Journalists’ Association, said that the freedom of expression was something that needed to be upheld. Mr Ray made these comments at a recent event that was held at the Houses of Parliament in the UK and organised by the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association. He said that the WikiLeaks website had the right to push the boundaries of this freedom in this revolutionary era of new media and internet technology.
Mr Ray said that journalists needed to be guided by the interests of their readers, viewers and listeners. He added that it was his during to not only entertain, but also to inform them. Ray also said that he did not mind whether his exposures as a journalist embarrassed New Delhi, London or Washington, as long as he was dealing with the truth.
Whilst Ray did endorse the right of Washington to stop WikiLeaks from dabbling in disclosures by legitimate and lawful means, he said that he was concerned by any dirty tactics to do this. Ray expressed his belief that the US could not blame Mr Assange for their rather loose system of security in relation to their diplomatic information.
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1 Comment
"20 minus points for a few misleading descriptions. the person has a role. the role's name is SPOKESPERSON. wikileaks as well as what builds it up (quite some journalism worldwide) is a bit much more than ONE PIP. ---- (... a pip who btw might slowly start to rethink if another stupid sentence like "I am not an antiw..."-what. is needed in the media another time) just a small few minutes for thinking and rethinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahI8o9-U7Z0"
Added by wn030 on 16th Jan 11