WikiLeaks: Julian Assange Steps Down as Editor

WikiLeaks has announced that Julian Assange will step down from his position as editor-in-chief of the whistleblowing platform—but will retain the title of publisher.

A Twitter post  from Wednesday states, “Due to the extraordinary circumstances where Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been held incommunicado (except for visits by his lawyers) for six months while arbitrarily detained in the Ecuadorian embassy, Mr. Assange has appointed Kristinn Hrafnsson Editor in Chief of WikiLeaks. Mr. Assange will continue to be the publisher of WikiLeaks.

Mr. Hrafnsson is an Icelandic investigative journalist selected in 2010 as Icelandic journalist of the year (his third award) for his role in the Collateral Murder publishing collaboration with WikiLeaks. That same year, he became spokesperson and kept that post until 2016. Since then he has overseen certain legal projects for WikiLeaks.”

Hrafnsson made the statement “I condemn the treatment of Julian Assange that leads to my new role, but I welcome the responsibility to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideals.”

 

Photo: “Julian Assange” by Neha Viswanathan is licensed under CC BY 2.0