WikiLeaks calls for release of all Panama Papers
WikiLeaks believes that the US directly financed the "attack on Vladimir Putin" through the Panama Papers, but that the leak from Mossack Fonseca is not itself a conspiracy against Russia. The organization has urged the full publication of all documents leaked from the Panama-based off-shore company, stating that covering them up would be irresponsible journalism. Rare are the media in Serbia, but also worldwide, that carried WikiLeaks' statement on the Panama Papers, even though the international organization is known the world over and has had huge influence on global media thanks to the release of classified documents of the US and other states.
Responding to the Panama Papers affair, WikiLeaks representatives said the US was directly behind the publication of the story about the Russian president based on leaked Mossack Fonseca documents, and that this undermined the integrity of the investigative networks and the reporters that took part in analyzing the data.
When it comes to the diverging interpretations of the leaked information, WikiLeaks stated that, though reporting on the affair itself is biased, claims that an anti-Russian "plot" was at the bottom of the Panama Papers leak itself are absurd.
WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Icelandic investigative journalists, called for the publication of the Panama Papers in full online.
WikiLeaks: "If you censor more than 99 percent of the documents, you are engaged in one percent journalism by definition."
Hrafnsson, who participated in the release of data in leaked diplomatic notes in 2010, said in an interview with RT that the gradual publication of the documents could be understandable from the viewpoint of creating a stronger impression, but that ultimately all data should be fully revealed and accessible to the public.
The WikiLeaks spokesman also said he did not agree with opinions that the way the information was presented to the public was responsible journalism.
"I do have a sympathy to stalled releases, we certainly did that in WikiLeaks in 2010 and 2011 with the Diplomatic Cables… but in the end the entire cache was put online in a searchable database."
WikiLeaks: Guardian has published a total of two of all the Panama Papers, Suddeutsche Zeitung zero.
"That is what I’d want to see with these Panama Papers, they should be available to the general public in such a manner so everybody, not just the group of journalists working on the data, can search it."
Panama Paper media first on Putin
Reports published based on the Panama Papers were released by global journalism organizations and media that cooperated with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
It was the ICIJ that processed the data from the Mossack Fonseca firm of Panama, leaked to the German Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper first.
The first analyses by media were on the business of close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported to be involved in a money-laundering operation through off-shore deals and loans worth USD 2 billion. It was also noted that the name of the Russian president appears in none of the documents.
The Panama Papers exposed the names of people from many other countries who did business through tax havens. Though this form of business is not illegal, it may do damage to a country's budget if left unchecked.