Day 3: EXPOSING CRIMES IS NOT A CRIME

Democratic representatives and NGOs are therefore increasingly reliant on publishers like WikiLeaks to counter measures aimed at the privatization of public goods, internet censorship, the extension of patents—resulting in inaccessibility of life-saving medicines—and the undermining of environmental and labor regulations. One of WikiLeaks' first major publications exposed alleged tax fraud and money laundering facilitated by Bank Julius Baer through the Cayman Islands.

As a result of these revelations, the website was temporarily shut down; the injunction was later lifted on grounds of civil liberties. The power of multinational corporations is also evident in cases like the Fishrot Files, in which a whistleblower revealed how Western corporations bribed Namibian authorities to control fishing quotas and evade tax payments through tax havens.

WikiLeaks went beyond simply publishing documents to hold companies accountable. In 2015, the platform launched a crowdfunding campaign aiming to raise €100,000 to encourage whistleblowers to expose what was then dubbed "Europe's most wanted secret": the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This part of the conference will examine WikiLeaks' influence on uncovering wrongdoing in politics and business.

Matthew Kennard, co-founder of Declassified UK, has for years analyzed WikiLeaks revelations concerning Western foreign policy, particularly British and US military and intelligence operations. He is currently investigating the UK's role in providing intelligence and logistical support in the Gaza conflict.

Saturday, March 21, 2026 Global Economy & Corporate Secrets 5:00–7:00 PM

With: Matthew Kennard (Author, investigative journalist, UK) Scott Ludlam (Designer, researcher, former Senator for Western Australia, Australia) Esteban Servat (Climate activist, founder, EcoLeaks, AR/DE) Clara López Rubio (Filmmaker, ES/DE)

Moderated by: Deepa Govindarajan Driver (Lecturer in Governance, Regulation and Risk, Henley Business School, UK)

Scott Ludlam, a former Australian politician and member of the Australian Greens, campaigned for almost two decades against uranium mining at the Jabiluka mine and in Western Australia. He campaigned against nuclear weapons, for Aboriginal land rights, peace and disarmament, and fought against real-time mass surveillance as well as for the fair treatment of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Esteban Servat, an Argentinian scientist and founder of EcoLeaks, published a secret government document detailing groundwater contamination caused by initial fracking pilot drilling in Mendoza province (part of the Vaca Muerta shale gas field). The revelation sparked a widespread anti-fracking movement, government persecution, and death threats, ultimately forcing him to relocate.


In their film *Hacking Justice* (2017/2021), Clara López Rubio and Juan Pancorbo document the time Julian Assange spent seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, as well as the work of his lawyer, Baltasar Garzón. A central focus is the CIA-linked espionage operation conducted by the Spanish security firm UC Global during Assange's asylum. The panel discussion will be moderated by Deepa Govindarajan Driver, whose work highlights the significance of WikiLeaks in the context of corporate responsibility and accountability.

Art as Evidence & Resistance 8:00–10:00 PM

With:
• Robert Trafford (Deputy Director, Forensis; Deputy Director, Forensic Architecture, UK/DE)
• Institute for Dissent and Datalove (Collective of hackers, artists, activists, and tinkerers, DE/FR/US)
• Davide Dormino (Visual artist, activist, IT)
• Manja McCade (Artist, Co-founder, Julian Assange Archive e.V., DE)

Moderated by:
Becky Haghpanah-Shirwan (Director, A/POLITICAL, UK)

The period from 2009 to 2016 was formative for artistic practices in the context of whistleblowing. During this time, close networks of trust emerged, originating in the activities of WikiLeaks, which shifted the boundaries of what can be published and what is considered art. In November 2009, WikiLeaks published 570,000 confidential pager messages related to September 11th, documenting the events surrounding the attacks in New York and Washington over a period of more than 24 hours.

The archive (911.wikileaks.org) contains transcripts of official communications from the Pentagon, the FBI, FEMA, and the New York Police Department, as well as system messages from the World Trade Center. These "9/11 tragedy pager intercepts" are rebroadcast in real time every year on September 11th.

The concept of "Art as Evidence" emerged from an exchange between Laura Poitras, Jacob Appelbaum, Trevor Paglen, and Tatiana Bazzichelli. It was first presented at the transmediale keynote address "Art as Evidence" in Berlin to explore artistic practices that document and interpret reality and trigger societal responses. Whistleblowing, leaking, and disclosure have opened up new spaces for resistance. How are artists and activists responding to these developments? How can the debate surrounding surveillance and transparency be translated culturally to reach both specialists and the general public?

The panel brings together diverse artistic and activist approaches:

– visual evidence through open-source intelligence at Forensis and Forensic Architecture (Robert Trafford)

– critical technologies and playful algorithms from the Institute for Dissent and Datalove

– decentralized sculptures for the protection of freedom of expression by Davide Dormino

– The Julian Assange Archive, presented by Manja McCade, which preserves the history of Assange and the global movement for press freedom. The discussion will be moderated by Becky Haghpanah-Shirwan, director of A/POLITICAL. In collaboration with the Wau Holland Foundation, she organized the 2023 exhibition States of Violence, which marked the fourth anniversary of Assange's imprisonment in Belmarsh. The symposium's final panel discusses art as a form of evidence and as a means of resistance against the abuse of power, for grassroots democratic interventions, and for the protection of civil rights and social justice.

(English / With simultaneous German translation)