Julius Baer drops suit against Wikileaks

Swiss bank Julius Baer has dropped its case against whistleblower Wikileaks, without giving any reason for doing so..

A district judge reversed his own injunction which shut the site down last Friday, saying he had concerns over Wikileaks' First Amendment rights and legal jurisdiction. Several media companies, the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation all filed motions to intervene in the case.

Wikileaks is not completely out of legal hot water just yet: Julius Baer still has the right to refile if it sees fit. However, with its central argument all but dismissed by the courts, it may find it hard to find a new basis for suit.

As of Thursday morning, internal documents from the bank were still available on Wikileaks' website. Several new documents have also appeared, apparently from former employee Rudolf Elmer.

"WikiLeaks will not be cowed by those who would silence the truth," the site said in celebrating the reversal of Friday's ruling. "It shall continue to be a forum for the citizens of the world to disclose issues of social, moral and ethical concern."