MP for the Movement Birgitta Jónsdóttir says that the Icelandic government has advised her not to travel to the US, due to a criminal investigation being conducted against Wikileaks.
Birgitta was at one time a volunteer for Wikileaks. In January 2010, the US Department of Justice told Twitter to give them access to her account, in order to read her private messages. Birgitta fought the case, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The International Parliamentarian Union (IPU) also responded with alarm that the US Department was taking this step.
Birgitta now writes that she has received contradictory messages from the US and her own government on her freedom of movement.
During my second meeting at the Icelandic State Department to discuss my Twitter case, I got a message from the newly appointed US Ambassador Luis E Arreaga, delivered by the assistant of the foreign affairs minister in Iceland. Ambassador Arreaga had been instructed by the US department of justice to give me the following verbal message: a) I would not be subjected to involuntary interrogation; b) I was free to travel to the US; c) I was not subject to criminal investigation.
Despite this message, the Icelandic State Department strongly advised me against traveling to the US; the same applied to my EFF and ACLU legal advisers. Shortly after this message, their caution proved to have been prudent because my lawyers spotted at least two sealed grand jury documents relating to me when requesting access to all documents pertaining to my case. Of course, I have not been able to find out what these documents entail.
She adds that as one of the early supporters of the Bradley Manning Support Network – currently being investigated by the US Army – she wonders if she will be subject to another investigation.
For more on Birgitta’s case, read Christopher Czechowicz’s article on the subject.
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