Paypal reverses funding ban on WikiLeaks supporters
Web based payments provider PayPal has announced it is to reverse a ban on the account of Courage to Resist, an organisation which has been fundraising toward the legal defence of Bradley Manning, source of the WikiLeaks Iraq and diplomatic files.
Speculation had suggested that the ban was related to these whistleblowing activities, but PayPal insists that the move was entirely down to “normal business procedures” after it was found that a bank account hadn’t been linked to the PayPal account, contrary to the sites terms and conditions.
Anuj Nayar, PayPal’s director of communications, said “Upon review, and as part of our normal business procedures, we have decided to lift the temporary restriction placed on their account because we have sufficient information to meet our statutory ‘Know Your Customer’ obligations.”
Manning has been held in solitary confinement since June 2010 but will not face court martial until October 2011.
Despite this change of heart the firm has stated that a freeze on WikiLeaks own PayPal account will remain in place.