Arjen Kamphuis, an associate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and WikiLeaks consultant, is reportedly missing. He's a 47 year old cyber security expert who co-authored Information Security for Journalists, a free handbook that provides investigative journalists and media professionals with a guide to avoid being snooped on by the state.
Arjen is a Dutch citizen, and was last seen in Norwegian town of Bodo on August 20th where he last checked out of a hotel. He had a ticket for a flight leaving from Trondheim on August 22nd, 700 km south of Bodo. The train to get there was supposed to take 10 hours, but he never showed up for the flight.
The news about his disappearance came from a friend, Ancilla Van De Leest, former Dutch Pirate Party frontrunner and privacy activist , who posted about it on her Twitter account on August 31st:
My best friend has gone missing in Bodø, Norway. Friends, colleagues and family are very, very worried. Please share <3 #FindArjen #Bodø #Norway #MissingPerson #ArjenKamphuis
WikiLeaks followed 5 hours later with a Tweet of their own:
@JulianAssange associate and author of "Information Security for Journalists" @ArjenKamphuis has disappeared according to friends (
) and colleagues. Last seen in Bodø, #Norway, 11 days ago on August 20.
A day later she posted again:
We are seriously considering Arjen Kamphuis was planning/took a train from Bodø to Trondheim. He checked out of a Bodø hotel on 20th of August and planned to fly from Trondheim to Ams on Aug 22nd. #FindArjen #Bodø #Trondheim #MissingPerson
Norwegian police are on the case, confirming they opened a probe into the disappearance. They don't have any updates yet on the avid hiker. It's possible he may have gotten lost hiking in the mountainous Norwegian terrain.
Talk on social media has offered up alternative speculations about what happened, such as being on a secret assignment for WIkiLeaks which required him to go dark and cut all communication.
Others suggested being the target of foul play due to his affiliation with WikiLeaks, possibly the victim of a CIA hit. Maybe captured or killed by the "five eye alliance" (referring to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US)? Maybe it's a warning to Assange.
If anyone has information about Arjen's location, they can contact the Gmail account set up at findarjen@gmail.com. Hopefully we can find out what happened to him and it's all just a misunderstanding.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
References:
- Julian Assange's associate cyber security expert mysteriously missing in Norway
- 'Strange disappearance' of WikiLeaks consultant in Norway
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