Creators say Czech equivalent of Wikileaks should begin releasing sensitive data next week
The most recent Wikileaks release of classified information has been dominating world headlines for over a week, with the latest twist Tuesday’s arrest of the website’s founder on sexual assault charges. Now the Czech Republic is set to get its own internet forum for material the authorities would prefer to keep under wraps, with the launch of a similar site by the small political grouping the Czech Pirate Party.
“We have two systems. One is a mirror, which is an exact copy of the Wikileaks website, which is now up. The second site we are going to launch is Pirateleaks, which is going to be open to all materials from the Czech Republic.”
Why are you launching your own Pirateleaks site?
“We’re launching it because we think that openness is very important for modern government…we want to have a place where journalists can find materials for their work, and where the public can find information about things that they’re interested in.”
Speaking right now, do you have any information that you believe could have important implications?
“Yes, we do.”
“We would like to launch the whole Pirateleaks project in about 10 days.”
Do you feel then like you’re sitting on a political time bomb at the moment?
“Well, there is certainly going to be interesting information released, and we expect that we are going to get even more information from the public, from people who are interested in this project, and who want to make information open.”
Are there any other Czech sites or Czech organisations that are preparing something similar to this?
“I’ve heard of several individuals, and we are trying to contact them, we’re trying to include them in our project, and to co-operate with them.”
Some people might say that you are simply jumping on the bandwagon of Wikileaks, because it’s such a big international media story at the moment.
“Yes, of course, we are trying to use this issue to make openness a topic, and to…go forth with our goals.’
Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks, is under a lot of personal pressure at the moment. He’s been guarding his whereabouts, and is being questioned by the police. Are you concerned that you could meet a fate like that?
Can we expect in two weeks from now that your site will be a big Czech news story?
“I hope so.”
