Day 2: EXPOSING CRIMES IS NOT A CRIME

They likely contributed to both the Arab Spring and the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by exposing greed and corruption in Libya and Tunisia, US cover-ups in Iraq, torture in Egypt, drone strikes in Yemen, and much more.

Julian Assange was subsequently awarded Australia's most prestigious journalism prize, but after CableGate, Assange also became a clear target of the US government.

Government & Diplomatic Cables

5:00–7:00 p.m.

With Kristinn Hrafnsson (Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, Italy), Stefania Maurizi (Investigative Journalist, Regular Contributor to “Il Fatto Quotidiano”, Italy), Jack Poulson (Executive Director of Tech Inquiry, USA), Ewen MacAskill (Reporter, Former Defense and Intelligence Correspondent for The Guardian, UK). Moderated by Joseph Farrell (WikiLeaks Ambassador, Süddeutsche Zeitung/UK).

Italian investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi spent a year reporting on the cables, revealing, among other things, how the US pressured Italy to prevent the extradition and prosecution of CIA officers responsible for the extrajudicial abduction and torture of an Egyptian cleric. She closely followed the legal proceedings against Julian Assange and even fought for the press's right to access all documents held by various authorities in connection with the Assange and WikiLeaks cases.

Pulitzer Prize winner Ewan MacAskill played a key role in reporting on whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations about mass surveillance by US and British intelligence agencies. He was instrumental in preparing the groundwork for the publication of the NSA's activities and the implications of the release of diplomatic cables. Based on these diplomatic cables, Jack Poulson, through his TechInquiry project, exposed the military-industrial complex by creating searchable databases that link open-source and declassified documents, lobbying materials, procurement data, and WikiLeaks materials. TechInquiry reports have uncovered numerous connections between Silicon Valley and the US military.

Two members of WikiLeaks are also participating in the discussion: Kristinn Hrafnsson, investigative journalist and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, who served as WikiLeaks spokesperson between 2010 and 2017 and contributed to the editing of the video “Collateral Murder,” and Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks ambassador, who joined WikiLeaks in 2010 and worked as an editor on several WikiLeaks publications, including the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs and Cablegate.

Intelligence & Cybersurveillance

8:00–10:00 PM

With Terry Albury (former FBI agent, whistleblower, USA), Thomas Drake (whistleblower, former senior National Security Agency official, USA), Suelette Dreyfus (technology researcher, CEO, Blueprint for Free Speech, AU), Andy Müller-Maguhn (Wau Holland Foundation, DE). Moderated by Mark Curtis (Co-Director of Declassified UK, journalist, UK).

This panel discussion refers to a number of documents published by WikiLeaks between 2012 and 2017, including the email correspondence of the global intelligence firm Stratfor, the emails of the Italian malware monitoring provider Hacking Team, documents concerning the NSA's global mass surveillance and the related German Bundestag inquiry into the BND and NSA, the NSA-France investigation, the Spy Files Russia, and the series of... Vault documents (Vault 7 and Vault 8) concerning electronic surveillance and cyber warfare by the CIA.

These revelations regarding intelligence activities and cyber surveillance were crucial in enabling investigative journalists, forensic experts, and the general public to better identify and understand hidden surveillance mechanisms employed by private companies and governments, and in establishing accountability—for example, by exposing the NSA's global surveillance and the CIA's infrastructure components.

Furthermore, the revelations highlighted the abuse of malware and the data privacy risks that can affect a wide range of connected devices used daily by the average citizen, underscoring the importance of addressing anonymity, privacy, and data security. At the same time, the revelations demonstrated that any connected device can be hacked and misused for surveillance purposes.

Among the speakers is Terry Albury, a former FBI counterterrorism agent who witnessed the mechanisms of power firsthand. His exposé (“The FBI’s Secret Rules,” published by The Intercept) exposed systemic profiling and surveillance tactics targeting journalists, vulnerable and marginalized communities (such as LGBTQ+ individuals, racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, as well as women and migrants). He was prosecuted under the Espionage Act and sentenced to four years in a federal prison.


Thomas Drake, a former senior official with the National Security Agency, exposed the intelligence agencies' failures on September 11, massive fraud amounting to billions of dollars, waste and abuse, and a secret mass surveillance program authorized by President Bush that violated the Constitution. He was indicted under the Espionage Act and faced decades in prison, but was released as part of a plea agreement. He also served as an aircrew member in the Air Force and as an intelligence officer in the Navy, and briefly worked as an intelligence analyst for the CIA. He has dedicated the rest of his life to defending privacy and human rights against abuses of power.

Suelette Dreyfus, who co-authored the book "Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier" with Julian Assange in 1997, is a longtime witness to the reasons that have inspired Julian Assange's work since its inception. She champions the importance of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and advocates for whistleblowing as a form of freedom of expression. Andy Müller-Maguhn is an expert on data protection and security and Vice President of the Wau Holland Foundation. In 2010, he met Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, after which, following a boycott by several US banks and credit card companies, the foundation began raising funds for Assange's legal defense. He has long been the target of surveillance measures.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Mark Curtis, co-founder and co-director of the media organization Declassified UK. As an investigative journalist, he specializes in British foreign, military, and intelligence policy.

(English / With simultaneous German translation)