Online Journalism News

Wikileaks vows to fight on despite court injunction

A whistle-blowing website forced offline by a Californian court for alleging cases of international fraud has vowed to fight the closure.

Dynadot, the web-domain company that hosts Wikileaks.org, was ordered last week to remove the site from the internet after Swiss bank Julius Baer sought an injunction against it for publishing documents alleging questionable offshore activities - including money laundering and tax evasion - allegedly supported by the bank in the Cayman Islands.

Another iteration of the website, with its domain name registered in Belgium, attacked the ruling as 'unconstitutional' and vowed to 'step up' publication of documents that allege illegal and unethical banking practices.

"Wikileaks will keep on publishing, in fact, given the level of suppression involved in this case, Wikileaks will step up publication of documents pertaining to illegal or unethical banking practices," stated a post on the Belgian site.

Judge Jeffery White signed the injunction, in San Francisco last week, which ordered the site be taken down as the bank would face 'immediate harm' if it did not get 'injunctive relief'.

Lawyers working on behalf of Julius Baer claimed the documents on the site would have a detrimental effect on another case involving the bank, claimed the Sydney Morning Herald.

Last year, Wikileaks came to greater public knowledge for alleging money laundering by the former president of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi.

The story became international news, claiming a front-page article in The Guardian in September and helped swing the popular vote during the Kenyan elections in December.

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