Author: Nathan

Matt DeHart is a former U.S. Air National Guard intelligence analyst who was prosecuted for allegedly running a data server which hosted files destined for WikiLeaks and allegedly dealing with the FBI investigating the CIA’s potential role in the anthrax attacks of 2001. DeHart was tortured during interrogation at the U.S.-Canada border and ultimately arrested, convicted, and imprisoned. He was finally released from prison in 2019.

• Update: Matt DeHart’s release and conditionsAugust 7, 2019
  Matt is in a transitional program with a scheduled release date to Leann and Paul’s home on October 3rd, 2019. In some ways the hardest part of his ordeal is yet to come.
• Matt DeHart launches legal challenge against sentence extensionJuly 20, 2018
  Habeas motion filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky, contesting multiple infringements of Matt’s due process rights
• BOP rejects Matt DeHart’s appeal to reinstate time-servedApril 24, 2018
  BOP’s response fails to explain the lack of due process; now that Matt has exhausted all administrative avenues for redress, he will challenge the arbitrary decision in court
• Matt DeHart sentenced to 7.5 years in jailFebruary 22, 2016
  Matt, who has already served 3.5 years, was sentenced in accordance with the plea deal he was coerced into signing late last year
• Matt DeHart sentencing scheduled for 22 February in TennesseeFebruary 2, 2016
  Matt is expected to be sentenced to seven and a half years in prison; sentencing is 22 Feb. 2016 at 11:30 CST at the Nashville, TN Federal Court House
• Government threatens 40 years in jail; Matt DeHart forced into plea dealNovember 12, 2015
  With a potential decades-long sentence looming, Matt has been cornered into signing an agreement that likely means four more years of jail time
• Thomas Drake’s statement in support of Matt DeHartMarch 3, 2015
  NSA whistleblower and Courage Advisory Board member on what it’s like to endure the brunt of the US national security state, and why we should support Matt DeHart
• Matt DeHart named as third Courage beneficiaryMarch 2, 2015
  The 30-year-old former US National Guard drone team member and alleged WikiLeaks courier was deported to the US less than 24 hours ago after asylum claim declined by Canada

Emin Huseynov is a human rights defender who fled persecution from Azerbaijan when authorities raided the offices of his organization in 2014. Huseynov fled to Switzerland in 2015.

• Courage beneficiary Emin Huseynov granted asylum in SwitzerlandNovember 17, 2015
  Decision comes four months after Huseynov was able to escape Baku on a humanitarian visa
• Escape from BakuJune 13, 2015
  Leading Azerbaijani press freedom campaigner Emin Huseynov travels to Bern after being sheltered at the Swiss Embassy in Baku since August last year. Donate to his defence fund at Courage’s official support site

Whistleblowers at PriceWaterhouseCooper exposed widespread tax-evasion fraud in reporting that later became known as LuxLeaks. Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet were imprisoned for blowing the whistle on PWC, though a court later overturned Deltour’s conviction.

• Opening of the “LuxLeaks” trialApril 25, 2016
  LuxLeaks whistleblower Antoine Deltour’s trial will take place in Luxembourg from April 26th to May 4th
• Antoine Deltour’s LuxLeaks trial set for 26 AprilJanuary 12, 2016
  Deltour, who came forward in 2014 as a LuxLeaks source, faces charges of robbery, laundering and fraudulent access, and a journalist is on trial as an accomplice
• Alleged LuxLeaks source Antoine Deltour comes forward, begins trialDecember 19, 2014
  Deltour, 28, faces several charges and a potential prison sentence for his alleged role in exposing tax avoidance, as part of ICIJ’s LuxLeaks

Chelsea Manning is a U.S. Army whistleblower, who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified military documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, exposing war crimes, previously uncounted civilian casualties, and the true nature of modern warfare. A former intelligence analyst who was stationed in Baghdad during the Iraq War, Manning is the source behind the infamous “Collateral Murder” video, the Iraq War Logs, the Afghan War Diary, and the State Department cables. Though acquitted of the most serious charge, the nearly unprecedented ‘aiding the enemy’ count carrying a potential death sentence, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 under the Espionage Act, serving 7 years (many in solitary confinement, inflicting psychological torture) before her sentence was commuted by President Obama in 2017.

Manning was re-arrested in 2019 and imprisoned for another year when she refused to testify before a grand jury investigating indicted WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

• Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden nominated for the 2020 Nobel Peace PrizeFebruary 6, 2020
  “We feel that Assange, Manning and Snowden have to be recognized for their ‘unprecedented contributions to the pursuit of peace and their immense personal sacrifices to promote peace for all’. With the unveiling of US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq and the global surveillance program of the US secret services, the three have ‘exposed the architecture of war and strengthened the architecture of peace.'”
• Academics, human rights activists, lawyers: Free Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning nowJune 12, 2019
  “As scholars and citizens concerned with the protection of whistleblowers and a free press, with the ability to hold government to account for such abuses we call for the immediate release of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning from prison.”
• WikiLeaks & Chelsea Manning’s 2010 DisclosuresJune 11, 2019
• Military court rejects Chelsea Manning’s appealJune 3, 2018
  ACCA affirms Manning’s conviction and sentence, rejecting arguments of First Amendment protection and an overbroad Espionage Act, but the legal case doesn’t end here
• Chelsea Manning discusses whistleblowing, prison, and more with Democracy Now!March 27, 2018
  The whistleblower talks about her time in Iraq, releasing documents to WikiLeaks, her experience in prison, and now running for US Senate in Maryland
• Throw a party to support Chelsea Manning’s appeal!June 14, 2017
  Courage can help you host a party to raise funds for Chelsea Manning’s vital legal appeal; TransCyberian’s first party in Berlin on 16 June will feature live music and crypto workshops, with proceeds going to Chelsea’s fund
• Courage Trustees on Chelsea Manning’s commutationJanuary 18, 2017
  Vivienne Westwood, Renata Avila, and John Pilger react to the news that Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning
• Obama commutes Chelsea Manning’s sentenceJanuary 17, 2017
  Finally, Obama has released Chelsea from prison; but only a pardon could undo the precedent set by her unjust conviction
• Chelsea Manning spends her 7th birthday in prisonDecember 17, 2016
  Chelsea Manning turns 29 today, as a White House petition calling on President Obama to grant her time served has reached 100,000 signers, forcing the White House to respond
• Chelsea Manning petitions Obama for clemencyNovember 15, 2016
  Manning, who has already spent six years in prison, asks Obama to cut her sentence to time served; Obama could reverse course on whistleblowers before a Trump administration takes the reins
• Chelsea Manning given solitary confinement for suicide attemptSeptember 23, 2016
  Manning: “I am feeling hurt. I am feeling lonely. I am embarrassed by the decision. I don’t know how to explain it. I am touched by your warm messages of love and support. This comforts me in my time of need.”
• Chelsea Manning faces punishment for suicide attempt, highlighting injustice of US prison systemJuly 29, 2016
  While UK prosecutors tell Lauri Love he has nothing to fear, Chelsea Manning, already tortured, is threatened with new charges and potentially indefinite solitary confinement in response to her attempt to take her own life
• Chelsea Manning’s lawyers confirm health status, privacy breachJuly 11, 2016
  Chelsea Manning’s attorneys Chase Strangio, Vincent Ward and Nancy Hollander released a joint statement today updating the public on Chelsea’s health status and the Army’s unauthorised release of her private medical information
• Chelsea Manning’s Legal Team Responds to Unconfirmed Rumors About Her HospitalizationJuly 7, 2016
  The following press statement was issued on 6 July 2016 with the approval of Chelsea Manning’s legal team.
• Chelsea Manning is Courage’s newest beneficiaryMay 27, 2016
  The Courage Foundation will focus on European fundraising and campaign support for the WikiLeaks whistleblower, as her legal defence team files its appeal to the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals
• Snowden-Manning-Assange sculpture Anything To Say? moves to GenevaSeptember 7, 2015
  Public Artwork for Freedom will be on the Place des Nations from 14 to 18 September, before moving on to Paris
• Chelsea Manning faces indefinite solitary confinement for magazines and toothpaste [Updated]August 18, 2015
  The whistleblower is being penalised for possessing magazines like Vanity Fair, the Senate Torture Report and “expired” toothpaste; Update: Chelsea tweets, “I was found guilty of all 4 charges @ today’s board; I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation–no gym, library or outdoors.”
• Chelsea Manning is Courage’s newest beneficiaryMay 27, 2015
  The Courage Foundation will focus on European fundraising and campaign support for the WikiLeaks whistleblower, as her legal defence team files its appeal to the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals

Lauri Love is a Finnish-British dual citizen who successfully defeated a U.S. extradition request in 2018, when he was indicted for allegedly defacing the Justice Department’s website in protest of the DOJ’s persecution of Aaron Swartz. Love’s use of the Forum Bar helped create a precedent that could help others facing similar extradition requests.

• Lauri Love’s forum bar precedent lives onJuly 31, 2018
  Stuart Scott becomes the second UK citizen to benefit from post-McKinnon extradition protections
• Love v USA is over. But what does it mean?March 27, 2018
  The benefits of Lauri Love’s extradition victory won’t be felt by him alone
• No US Appeal to Lauri Love RulingMarch 20, 2018
  The High Court has prevented the US from appealing Lauri Love’s extradition decision, so the 5 February 2018 ruling stands in full; Lauri Love: “The era of the US Department of Justice as world police is over.”
• It’s official: #NoLove4USGovFebruary 19, 2018
  Huge victory for Lauri Love – and for Courage – as US concedes that “oppressive” extradition will not go ahead
• Barrett Brown, Rev. Love and more discuss Lauri’s case before tomorrow’s hearingNovember 28, 2017
  Barrett explains the conditions he endured in US prisons and why Lauri would be at even greater risk, while Rev. Love and others discuss problems with the US-UK Extradition Treaty and the disparity in how the two countries treat computer crimes
• MPs ask: has 10 Downing Street done anything to help Lauri Love?November 20, 2017
  Parliamentarians from all parties request that Theresa May ask Donald Trump to allow Lauri to be tried in the UK
• 114 British MPs call on Obama to stop Lauri Love’s extraditionOctober 27, 2016
  Letter sent to the US President demonstrates strong support for Lauri across the political spectrum
• British Judge rules that Lauri Love can be extradited to the United States on hacking chargesSeptember 16, 2016
  Lauri Love can appeal the ruling at a higher court, speaks outside of the courtroom after the ruling; Sarah Harrison condemns the decision; Lauri’s legal counsel vow appeal
• Friday 16 September – Lauri Love extradition rulingSeptember 5, 2016
  At 2pm on Friday 16 September, District Judge Nina Tempia will hand down her ruling on whether Lauri Love should be protected from extradition to the United States, where he faces a potential 99-year prison sentence
• Roots Action and Courage team up to help Lauri LoveAugust 8, 2016
  Courage and US-based activist organisation Roots Action are collaborating to raise funds for British computer scientist Lauri Love as he awaits an extradition ruling on 16 September 2016
• Lauri Love calls for fair play and justice as extradition hearing concludesJuly 28, 2016
  Ruling scheduled for 16 September 2016; Property Act hearing postponed; Lauri Love appears at HOPE conference via videolink
• Full coverage of Lauri Love’s extradition hearing, day 2June 29, 2016
  In the second day of Love’s hearing, the court heard testimony from Lauri himself, the CEO of Hacker House, representatives from Jeremy Hammond’s and Barrett Brown’s support networks, and Lauri’s US lawyer, Tor Ekeland; final oral arguments to be held in the coming weeks
• Lauri Love to testify in extradition hearing day 2, on hacking for social goodJune 28, 2016
  While day one of Lauri Love’s extradition hearing focused on his mental health and potential for poor treatment in a US prison, today’s hearing will turn toward Lauri’s current work at Hacker House, harnessing cybersecurity talents for social good
• Full coverage of Lauri Love’s extradition hearing, day 1June 28, 2016
  A comprehensive Storify of today’s extradition hearing in London, where the court heard testimony regarding Lauri Love’s Asperger Syndrome and depression, and how he would fare if imprisoned in the United States; tomorrow we’ll hear about how digital activists are treated in US prisons
• History repeats itself as Lauri Love fights extradition to the United StatesJune 27, 2016
  Two-day hearing expected to be first major test of the post-McKinnon forum bar; Gary McKinnon’s mother says, “We burned our witches, don’t crucify our geeks.”
• Lauri Love’s extradition hearing is just a week awayJune 20, 2016
  Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London; come show your solidarity at the hearing and related actions afterwards
• Lauri Love: court rejects extension of police powersMay 10, 2016
  Sarah Harrison: “By making a stand for his own privacy Lauri Love has prevented a further erosion of rights for everyone in the UK, at a time when the ability to store and convey information securely is at risk all over the world.”
• Tuesday 10 May: Lauri Love ruling may create dangerous new police powersApril 28, 2016
  Decision in Love’s property case will have serious implications for journalists, advocates, activists, whistleblowers, members of the legal profession and other groups who handle sensitive communications or other data
• Love must prevail: Tuesday hearing marks a new skirmish in the cryptowarsApril 11, 2016
  Julian Assange says “Lauri Love is fighting this case for the rights of all UK residents against excessive and abusive policing. Because the UK is a laboratory for these kinds of repressive policies, the case will also have wide-reaching repercussions internationally.”
• Free Love funding drive: save Lauri from US extraditionApril 5, 2016
  On 12 April at 2pm, Lauri Love will appear at Westminster Magistrate’s Court challenging an attempt by the UK’s NCA to compel him to hand over his encryption keys
• Lauri Love fights compelled decryption on 12 AprilMarch 31, 2016
  2pm, London, West Magistrate’s Court; Richie Tynan of Privacy International: “This is the first time we have heard of a UK agency using two different legal mechanisms to compel the decryption of data”
• Lauri Love launches legal action to get his property backNovember 3, 2015
  The UK’s National Crime Agency will have questions to answer at Lauri Love’s extradition hearing in April
• Courage beneficiary Lauri Love explains significance of TalkTalk hack for BBC NewsnightOctober 26, 2015
  “Pretty much anyone who has signed up their personal information to a website has had it compromised in some way”
• Announcement: Lauri Love website launched, extradition battle imminentJuly 29, 2015
  Lauri thanks Courage in a statement; campaign to fund legal team fighting Love’s extradition has launched
• #FreeLauri – Your letter can help Lauri Love beat extradition to the USJuly 19, 2015
  Lauri Love won a landmark ruling against compelled decryption in the UK, standing up for his rights and yours. Now we’ve got to win Round 2