Kremlin-backed TV station to broadcast Assange chat show

Published on 26/01/2012 00:00

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange is to broadcast a talk show on a Kremlin-funded English language television station beginning in March.

The shows will feature ten interviews with what RT television said were “key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries –figures who in the author’s opinion will be shaping the political agenda of tomorrow”.

The names of the guests are still to be disclosed.

The RT statement said Mr Assange, a 40-year-old Australian born internet entrepreneur, is filming the series from the location of his house arrest in the United Kingdom.

He is currently fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted on sex crimes allegations. United States officials are weighing possible charges linked to the leaks, the biggest disclosures of secret documents in US history. An American serviceman, Bradley Manning, 24, is already facing court martial on charges of aiding the enemy. If found guilty he could be jailed for 150 years. It is alleged he supplied WikiLeaks with records of secret diplomatic cables.

RT, which also broadcasts in Spanish and Arabic on its cable networks, often takes a critical stance on American and European Union policy, parroting Russian government positions. “We’re proud to host Julian Assange’s new project,” editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said. “RT has rallied a global audience of open-minded people who don’t take things around them for granted.”

RT launched its first, English-language channel in December 2005 and now claims a global reach of more than 430 million people, or 22 per cent of all cable subscribers worldwide.