< Schedule
Friday, March 20, 2026 · 17:00–19:00
Government & Diplomatic Cables
» HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU1) · Berlin
» Tickets
» English with German simultaneous translation
» Streaming (English, free) at disruptionlab.org and HAU4
Speakers · Read more
Kristinn Hrafnsson (Editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, IS), Stefania Maurizi (Investigative Journalist, Regular Contributor, Il Fatto Quotidiano, IT), Jack Poulson (Executive Director, Tech Inquiry, US), Ewen MacAskill (Reporter, Former Guardian's Defence and Intelligence Correspondent, UK), Moderation: Joseph Farrell (WikiLeaks Ambassador, SZ/UK).
Introduction
In 2010 WikiLeaks began to release CableGate, over a quarter million US diplomatic cables. The cables proved that Washington had instructed its diplomats to spy on people working at the United Nations, they likely catalysed both the Arab Spring and the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by showing greed and corruption in Libya and Tunisia, US coverups in Iraq, torture in Egypt, drone strikes in Yemen and much more. Julian Assange was subsequently awarded Australia’s most prestigious journalism award, but following CableGate Assange also became a clear target for the US government.
Italian investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi reported on the Cables for an entire year, exposing among other things how the US put pressure on Italy to stop the extradition and prosecution of CIA officers responsible for the extrajudicial kidnapping and torture of an Egyptian cleric. She has followed the legal persecution of Julian Assange closely, even litigating for the right of the press to gain access to the full set of documents held by various authorities related to the Assange and WikiLeaks cases.
Pulitzer Prize winner Ewan MacAskill played a key role in reporting the revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden about the mass surveillance by US and UK intelligence agencies. He had a crucial role in preparing the publication disclosures of the activities of the NSA and the impact of the Diplomatic Cables publications.
Jack Poulson has built on the Diplomatic Cables to expose the military-industrial complex with his project TechInquiry, by creating searchable databases connecting open source and declassified documents, lobbying documents, procurement feeds and WikiLeaks materials. Reports coming out of TechInquiry have exposed numerous connections between Silicon Valley and the US military.
The conversation involves also two WikiLeaks members: Kristinn Hrafnsson, investigative journalist and the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, who was the spokesperson for WikiLeaks between 2010 and 2017, and who contributed to the processing of the Collateral Murder video; Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks Ambassador, who joined WikiLeaks in 2010, and has been a section editor for several WikiLeaks’ publications including the Iraq and Afghan War Logs and Cablegate.
Read more about EXPOSING CRIMES IS NOT A CRIME
Exposing crimes is not a crime · The Real-World Consequences of WikiLeaks
Programme
Thu March 19 2026
» The Reasons Behind
» War & Military
Fri March 20 2026
» Government & Diplomatic Cables
» Intelligence & Cybersurveillance
Sat March 21 2026
» Global Economy & Corporate Secrets
» Art as Evidence & Resistance
Sun March 22 2026
» Activation Day
A Symposium by Disruption Network Lab. Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds and the Reva & David Logan Foundation. In cooperation with the Wau Holland Foundation and HAU Hebbel am Ufer.