If it wasn't already blatantly obvious, WikiLeaks is not a popular site with governments worldwide. Something about leaking confidential information simply doesn't appeal to them, for whatever reason. Certain leaks can completely change people's understanding of events in different manners. Depending on who you ask, that's either a good or bad thing. A certain Julian Assange would probably argue it's a good thing.
From what we're learning, Iceland's government knew of a US plan to arrest people involved with WikiLeaks. The government advised one of their MPs (Members of Parliament), Birgitta Jónsdóttir, to not travel to the United States due to the risk of being arrested. Jónsdóttir was partially responsible for the leak of a video which reached WikiLeaks during 2010 and achieved infamy; the video was dated 2007. While dated even at release it provoked outrage, for it displayed US soldiers killing innocent civilians in the city of Baghdad, aboard an Apache helicopter gunship.
The video, due to its controversial nature, was a frequent feature with news outlets worldwide. Jónsdóttir has already acknowledged that the US Department of Justice has attempted to gain access to her Twitter account. In other words, they wanted Twitter to give the account information to the government so that they may inspect the information it contains. Thanks to Twitter's legal team they were able to prevent this from happening and the Department of Justice was not legally allowed to gain access to the account. What the account might have contained cannot be said but it would be safe to assume they would be interested in the Direct Messages, since the rest could be accessed anyway.
It would seem the US could be intending to arrest WikiLeaks collaborators in the future, if an American ambassador's actions are anything to go by. He personally informed Jónsdóttir that she would not be forced to undergo involuntary interrogation if she was to come to the country. There are only a couple of reasons why you'd need to tell someone that, so the assumption that the Americans want to sweep up some WikiLeaks collaborators might not be far from the truth.
Icelandic citizens will hardly be surprised at Jónsdóttir being partially responsible for the leak. She is well known for her political views, at least within the country. In recent history, she has spoken out for WikiLeaks and for both the Friends of Tibet in Iceland, and Saving Iceland movements. Saving Iceland is a movement opposed to the government, and particularly the aluminum industry within the country. The group feels the government is destroying Iceland's natural beauty with its drive for money, while Friends of Tibet in Iceland are a group of people who are pro-Tibet. Tibet and China are famous for their rather abrasive relationships so there is plenty of fuel to that particular fire.
All in all, Jónsdóttir is not exactly popular among the United States government members who might be gunning for Julian Assange and his merry band of rogues. The arrest of people responsible could be an interesting future, since Assange fears he could be extradited to the United States to stand trial. At present, Assange is in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He can't leave it until he is granted political asylum to Ecuador either, since he'll be arrested by the Metropolitan Police; exciting times to be a political whistleblower, right?
Source: Extra Torrent
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