Ukrainians protest against WikiLeaks founder’s arrest

On October 7, several thousand Internet Party of Ukraine buffs took part in the picketing of the US embassy in Kyiv. They demanded the release and acquittal of the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, arrested by British police on a Swedish warrant for alleged sex crimes, following his whistle-blowing website exposes of strictly confidential diplomatic messages, with red faces upstairs across the world, including the Pentagon and Department of State. The picketers carried posters reading “Internet is Freedom!”, “Internet: Killer of Censors!”, “Free Julian Assange!”, “All Secrets Exposed!” Using laptops, they sent an email to the State Department demanding that they stop DDOS attacks against WikiLeaks.

Another message addressed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryshchenko, requesting political and/or technological asylum for Assange. The latter, accompanied by his lawyer, arrived at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London on Tuesday afternoon after turning himself in to British police at 9:30 a.m. local time, where further hearings will decide his destiny in light of the Swiss extradition warrant.