Tag: press release

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Courage News Matt DeHart News

Matt DeHart named as third Courage beneficiary

  • 30-year-old former US National Guard drone team member and alleged WikiLeaks courier deported/extradited to US less than 24 hours ago after asylum claim declined by Canada
  • Joins Edward Snowden and Jeremy Hammond as Courage beneficiaries
  • Matt’s parents Leann and Paul DeHart say: “We are comforted knowing we do not stand up against the tide alone.”
  • A few minutes ago Matt DeHart appeared before a judge in Buffalo and was ordered to be transferred to Tennessee for arraignment.

Courage, the international organisation dedicated to the protection of truth-tellers, has announced that its new beneficiary will be Matt DeHart.

Matt DeHart is a 30-year-old former US National Guard drone team member and alleged WikiLeaks courier who worked with the hactivist group Anonymous. In the last 24 hours, he has been deported/extradited from Canada to the United States to face charges that judges in two countries (the US and Canada) have found to lack credibility. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said: “Canada’s actions are shameful. It may as well not have a border.” A few minutes ago Matt DeHart appeared before a judge in Buffalo and was ordered to be transferred to Tennessee for arraignment.

For the past five years, Matt DeHart has been at the centre of a US national security investigation and has experienced extraordinary hardship as a result. In 2010, Matt was detained at the US–Canadian border by FBI agents, who administered an IV (intravenous line) to Matt against his will. They questioned him over several days regarding his military unit, his involvement with Anonymous and WikiLeaks. They denied him access to his lawyer, deprived him of sleep, food and water, and tortured him during this time. Although an FBI report confirms Matt was detained for an “espionage matter” and agents asked him nothing about pornography, Matt was presented with a hastily drafted criminal complaint alleging he solicited nude photos from a teenager in 2008.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stated: “The abuse of the law in DeHart’s case is obvious, shocking and wrong. Matt DeHart and his family have suffered enough.”

On 3 April 2013, Matt and his family crossed the US–Canadian border again, seeking political asylum and protection under the United Nations Convention on Torture. Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board turned down the family’s claim in February 2015, even though they found no “credible and trustworthy evidence” to support the charges Matt faces.

Courage has accepted Matt as its third beneficiary in order to raise awareness about his case, prevent him from experiencing further mistreatment in detention and to raise urgently needed funds for his legal defence. DeHart’s legal team have confirmed that they intend to launch legal action against the US government as well as defend Matt from the charges he currently faces.

Sarah Harrison, Courage’s Acting Director, said:

The FBI has ruined Matt’s life to cover up what he knew and to punish his support of WikiLeaks and Anonymous. Objective judges have agreed that the child porn charges are a ruse to smear him in pursuit of national security information.

Tor Ekeland, one of Matt’s lawyers, said:

Knowing the Courage Foundation has Matt’s back is a great relief to everyone fighting for his cause. It’s a privilege to work with such an esteemed organisation so committed to the freedom of information, and to know that there is light in the darkness.

Matt’s parents, Paul and Leann DeHart, said in a statement,

We are humbled and grateful for the support of the Courage Foundation. Facing a crisis of tsunami magnitude, we are comforted knowing we do not stand up against the tide alone.

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Matt DeHart, center, with his parents Leann and Paul

In addition to hosting the defence fund, Courage will publicly advocate for Matt DeHart and build his network of support. A re-launched support website at mattdehart.com will provide regular updates on Matt’s case and raise public awareness about the threats he faces.

Donations to the Matt DeHart defence fund can be made at: https://mattdehart.com/donate

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Edward Snowden News

Press Release: Americans, Brits and Germans want their governments to protect Edward Snowden

6:30pm GMT

  • As Edward Snowden’s year of temporary asylum in Russia expires, German, UK, US and Russian governments are asked to take action
  • US will be asked to drop its charges against Snowden
  • Supporters across 39 countries have joined the call from Snowden’s defence fund, Courage, for Snowden’s asylum and protection
  • Germany, UK and US supporters lead Courage’s ‘Stand With Snowden’ campaign, calling for Snowden’s continued protection

Today, on the final day of Edward Snowden’s year of temporary asylum in Russia, members of Courage, the organisation that has run his official defence fund for the past year, write to those governments where support for Snowden has been greatest. Since June this year, Courage has been running a campaign asking members of the public to submit photos showing they “Stand With Snowden.” As his asylum ends, Courage asks the governments of countries where the support was greatest to “ask them to respond to this call.”

Today it was announced that Edward Snowden has applied for permanent political asylum in Russia, a year after he was awarded temporary asylum by the Russian Federation after one month stranded in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, following a decision by the US State Department to announce the cancellation of his passport. As his temporary asylum expires today, he is formally an asylum-seeker once again. It is therefore paramount at this critical time that governments around the world respond to their citizens’ wishes and help protect Edward Snowden. Courage will also be writing to President Putin to encourage Russia to renew Mr Snowden’s asylum.

Over the last year, Edward Snowden has been able to actively participate in the debate he began. Thanks to the protection Russia has afforded him, he has been able to lead a relatively normal life in that country. In the letters to be delivered tomorrow, Courage sets out for each government the impact and importance of Snowden’s revelations. Courage asks that governments around the world support his courageous action in showing how their citizens’ rights were being violated by the NSA and GCHQ, and to support his legal right to asylum to allow his continued participation in the debate on mass surveillance. Courage will also ask the United States to drop its charges against Snowden.

Tomorrow, 1st August, Courage will deliver letters calling for Edward Snowden’s protection to elected representatives in Germany, Britain, the US and to Russia. In the UK and Germany, Members of Parliament Hans-Christian Ströbele and Caroline Lucas will be accepting these letters. Letters will also be delivered to US Senator Ron Wyden and the Russian Government. Please follow @CourageFound and this page for updates on the deliveries.

Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of Courage said:

Whilst it is heartening to see so many members of the public standing up in support of Snowden, most governments around the world, with the exclusion of Russia a year ago, have done little to protect this legal asylum-seeker. As we reach the time of his asylum renewal, I hope that more governments will have the courage and conscience to do what their own citizens tell them is right. Snowden faces decades in prison in the US, due to Obama’s war on whistleblowers. Last year military whistleblower Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Earlier this week Amnesty called on President Obama to grant Manning’s immediate release. The United States’ political persecution of whistleblowers must stop. Governments around the world should not allow for another Manning: protect Snowden whilst he’s still free.

Although letters are being delivered tomorrow, Courage will keep its Stand With Snowden campaign page open to allow the public around the world to continue to show their support. So far, photos have been submitted from 39 countries around the world, with support mapped from as far afield as Brazil, India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Japan and Egypt. The diverse spread of photos demonstrates how Edward Snowden’s revelations resonate with people around the world.

cape town stands with

Courage originally began in August 2013 as The Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund and has run Edward Snowden’s defence fund since that time. Courage’s official Edward Snowden support site is located at https://edwardsnowden.com and the related twitter account at @CourageSnowden.

In addition to running the official defence fund for Edward Snowden and preparing to do the same for others in the future who risk life or liberty to make significant contributions to the historical record, Courage advocates for the protection of journalists’ sources and the public’s right to receive their information as guaranteed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Read more about donating to Courage, its funding and its mission at https://staging.couragefound.org

 

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Courage News Edward Snowden News

Launch of Courage and Snowden Campaign in Berlin, Wednesday 11th June

IMPORTANT NOTE:
We have limited places available for press. if you would like to attend please email courage.event@couragefound.org and we will confirm if you have been able to register successfully.

Courage – LAUNCH PRESS RELEASE – Monday 9th June 2014
http://couragefound.org
@couragefound

Courage – the organisation running Snowden’s defence fund – launches in Berlin this Wednesday, 11th June

  • speakers include Wolfgang Kaleck, Edward Snowden’s German lawyer; Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of Courage; WikiLeaks Publisher Julian Assange
  • Edward Snowden – Courage’s first beneficiary – will send a message to the event
  • a new campaign to show the breadth of international support for Edward Snowden will be announced on the night

Courage, a new international organisation dedicated to providing support to truthtellers, holds its official launch event in Berlin on the evening of Wednesday, 11th June. Courage runs Edward Snowden’s official defence fund. Courage also advocates for the protection of journalists’ sources and the public’s right to receive their information as guaranteed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Wednesday’s event will also mark the beginning of a new campaign for Edward Snowden as his temporary asylum in Russia approaches its end. Edward Snowden’s German lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck will explain his client’s current legal situation. Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of Courage, who facilitated Edward Snowden’s exit from Hong Kong and spent four months in Russia, including 40 days in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport securing Snowden’s freedom in exile, will underline the importance of ongoing public pressure.

Courage launches with an advisory board that includes former intelligence whistleblowers Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers), Thomas Drake (NSA), Ray McGovern (CIA) and Annie Machon (MI5), along with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation John Perry Barlow and professor of law and legal history at Columbia University Eben Moglen. For further details on Courage advisory board members, see https://staging.couragefound.org/advisory-board/

Gavin MacFadyen, a Courage Trustee and Director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism, says:

The Trustees started Courage because it is imperative for free speech and an open independent press to support whistleblowers, particularly those who risk their lives and freedom to bring critical information to the public. At the time Courage started there were no international organisations providing the support Edward Snowden needed to remain free and none organising support for whistleblowers to come. Knowing the central role whistleblowers have played in the major ground-breaking disclosures of our time, it is clear that without freedom and protection for truthtellers, there is no freedom or protection for journalists. And none for the public. Courage has never been more needed and essential to a free press.

The other two Trustees of Courage are Julian Assange, Publisher of WikiLeaks and Barbora Bukovská, Senior Director for Law and Policy at Article 19.

The organisation’s launch comes a year after Edward Snowden revealed himself as the source of NSA revelations on mass surveillance and takes place in one of the countries where the reaction has been most significant. In the past week, the German federal prosecutor has announced the re-opening of a formal investigation into allegations that the German Chancellor’s mobile phone was monitored and a parliamentary inquiry into mass surveillance is ongoing.

Sarah Harrison says:

Snowden performed a heroic act and should be supported. Courage will show the world that the public stands with Snowden and they want their governments to help protect him. For the last year people associated with Courage have worked to assist and defend Snowden against injustice. We found him safety and asylum in Russia and we raised funds to pay for his lawyers in the US, Iceland and more widely. But we are just starting – Courage is not here just for Snowden but for future Snowdens.

Additional special guests will be announced on the night. Their comments, as well as those of the others speaking, will be made available on Courage’s website and Twitter feed.

Courage originally began in August 2013 as The Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund and has run Edward Snowden’s defence fund since that time. Courage’s official Edward Snowden support site, previously located at http://freesnowden.is will move to http://edwardsnowden.com to coincide with the launch. The related Twitter account will also move to @CourageSnowden from @free_snowden.