wikileaks bunker - astonishing view inside the subterranean bunker

8/8/2019 WikiLeaks Bunker - Astonishing view Inside the Subterranean bunker

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Inside the astonishing subterranean WikiLeaks bunker - Just like out of a Bond film

By Michael HanlonLast updated at 11:58 AM on 9th December 2010

With his eccentric personal life and air of mystery, the flamboyant WikiLeaksfounder Julian Assange seems to be doing his best to impersonate a JamesBond villain.

How appropriate, then, that he has chosen what looks like an 007 film set asthe back-up store for the thousands of confidential emails and documents thathave shaken the world.

These pictures show the Pionen data centre, 100ft below ground in a former

Cold War nuclear bunker, where all the WikiLeaks files are being kept.

Nerve centre: Super-servers which act for storage for many companies arealso used by WikiLeaks to store its information

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U-boat back-up: Submarine engines are used as emergency generators atthe Bahnhof internet service provider, in Stockholm, Sweden

The vast cave, drilled into granite under the Vita Berg Park in Stockholm,houses dozens of computer servers used as storage by many companies.

Complete with a 'floating' conference room, suspended glass corridors, lunar landscape flooring, designer furniture, and even, intriguingly, German U-boatengines as back-up generators, all that is missing is the bleached-blondAssange himself, stroking a white cat.

The disused bunker was reopened in 2008 with its futuristic design thebrainchild of Swedish architects Albert France-Lanord, who were inspired byBond sets created by Sir Kenneth Adams.

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The brutalist design is softened by plants kept alive by brilliant solar lightingand artificial waterfalls.

While on the run from Swedish and American authorities, Assange has had touse this secure base for his files.

Chilly reception: The bunker, drilled into granite under the Vita Berg Park,could withstand a nuclear attack

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Plant life: The offices feature lunar-landscape flooring, glass corridors and a'floating' conference room

WikiLeaks was hosted by internet retailer Amazon but it was kicked off itswebsite following intense pressure from American politicians.

Assange then used a French firm before being expelled from there as well.

As a result, WikiLeaks has set up numerous 'domain names' in dozens of countries, each linked to one that keeps copies of the original files.

Assange has turned to Sweden because the country's laws are some of the

best in the world for protecting the work of freedom of speech campaigners.

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Under Swedish law, WikiLeaks cannot be prosecuted and neither can thepeople who pass it information.

Wikileaks is funded by a mixture of public donations, help from Assange'swealthy patrons and, so far as anyone can tell, a fair bit by Assange himself.

But the cost of this storage will be very little, because although Assange'steam have released several million documents, in data terms this is not alarge amount.

Everything WikiLeaks has in its possession could probably be stored on ahigh-capacity memory stick.

However, putting it into the trust of this set-up - which any self-respectingBond villain would be proud of - must surely pander to Julian Assange's huge

ego.

Space age: Under Swedish law, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot beprosecuted for publishing the sensitive information

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Rock solid: The entrance to the Pionen high-security computer storage facility

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Inspiration? Bond villain Hugo Drax, played by Michael Lonsdale, in the 1979film Moonraker

Mysterious: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

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wikileaks bunker - astonishing view inside the subterranean bunker

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