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CNET NewsEuropean politicos protest DOJ Wikileaks-Twitter probe
by Declan McCullagh
An influential group of European politicians is protesting the U.S. government's attempt to pry Wikileaks-related information out of Twitter, saying that EU privacy rules may have been violated.
The parliamentary maneuver expected tomorrow comes as London-based lawyers for Wikileaks editor Julian Assange warned that their client could face illegal rendition to the United States, execution, or indefinite detention "at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere," and a U.K. judge set a two-day extradition hearing to start on February.
Tomorrow's parliamentary protest, calling on the EU to "ask the U.S. authorities for clarifications on the subpoenas imposed on Twitter," is being organized by a group called the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. It boasts 85 members, making it the third largest group in the European Parliament, and claims it holds the balance of power between the left and the right.
On Friday, Twitter notified a handful of its subscribers with ties to Wikileaks that the U.S. Justice Department had obtained a court order for their "subscriber account information." The order covers accounts linked to Wikileaks including those of Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private accused of leaking classified documents; Seattle-based Wikileaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum; Dutch hacker and XS4ALL Internet provider co-founder Rop Gonggrijp; and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the Icelandic parliament.
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