Freedom seems to be just a happy memory for Julian Assange, who used to disappear into thin air, flying from one country to another and living a life out of a backpack. He spent the last fifteen months wearing an electronic bracelet tracking all his movements: indeed an ironic turn for a man who became a world icon for his fight against the Orwellian dystopia.
Now he seems to have his back against the wall: he risks to be extradited to Sweden in a matter of days, his organisation has powerful enemies and is suffering as a result of a serious banking blockade unleashed by credit cards. But when you look Mr. WikiLeaks in the eyes, you understand he has no intention of giving up. He keep planning his 'media insurgency', a kind of guerrilla based on the sudden release of millions of files. He is calm, very focused on his goals and obsessions, but he can be passionate and indignant, he has an acute sense of humor and a strong sense of justice. Nonetheless the man who shook the White House is neither a hard man nor the autistic Peter Pan depicted by newspapers. "He is a charismatic figure precisely because of his contradictions" and because of "the romantic view that he holds of the world", as recently wrote the New Yorker. He is almost a sort of revolutionary of the 19th century. He meets 'l'Espresso' in a club at the center of London, to talk about his life and his creature while enjoying a cappuccino. "WikiLeaks will continue", he tells in a confident tone of voice, "when I was in prison before, WikiLeaks continued publishing, to that degree the organization is robust at least in the medium term. Of course to remove the founder and the most visible public person would damage the organization in a number of ways, but its practical components is now strong enough to survive at least for a couples of years, without me, not to the same degree of vigour perhaps, nonetheless it is robust institution....read more http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/assange-they-want-to-destroy-us/2175691
