GUEST BLOG: Talk Liberation – Bank Staff Must Testify: Talk Liberation, WikiLeaks Lawyers Win Key Concession in Icelandic Court

Represented by WikiLeaks’ Icelandic lawyers in an epic court showdown three years in the making, on June 19th independent software development house, Talk Liberation (the creators behind viral social media project Panquake) proved that justice is possible even when it seems improbable. Now we’re giving you the inside story, brought to you by best selling author, whistleblower and Talk Liberation Brand Ambassador John Kiriakou; journalist and Talk Liberation Media Director Fiorella Isabel and Talk Liberation Founder Suzie Dawson.

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After months of delays, the Talk Liberation team finally had our long-awaited day in court in Reykjavik, Iceland against major Icelandic bank Islandsbanki, to demand accountability for the de-banking and wrongful freezing of our USD$1 million dollar seed funding in 2022. Brand Ambassador John Kiriakou and Talk Liberation Media Director Fiorella Isabel, attended the hearing in person in Iceland, transcribed what happened and got the inside scoop on what will occur next going forward.

Our winning WikiLeaks legal team stormed into court with a clear mission: force Islandsbanki to prove its case. We flipped their script, with our legal team putting the burden of proof on the bank and demanding they produce witnesses—just as Talk Liberation had done. The judge agreed and now Islandsbanki must put bank staff on the stand at the next hearing scheduled for September 2, 2025. The bank’s relentless obstruction—dragging its feet at every turn—revealed its fear of scrutiny. But this win has exposed their underbelly and showed that even financial titans are not above the law.

Justice Is Possible Even When It May Seem Improbable

After the hearing, Wikileaks’ Sveinn Andri Sveinsson, the Icelandic Supreme Court lawyer, chatted with Fiorella and John, cutting right to the heart of the matter: “We don’t know exactly why they took these measures of freezing the account and closing the business relationship, but it’s on the other hand quite clear that after they did that, they lodged some kind of file or report, a Suspicious Activity Report on the AML [global financial system]. And it’s obvious that after that was done, it was impossible for Talk Liberation to get any banking services in Iceland.”

Meanwhile Talk Liberation founder Suzie Dawson gave blistering testimony, dismantling the bank’s narrative with cold, hard facts. She proved with documentation that Talk Liberation had fulfilled all due diligence requirements, evidencing that the company was not partaking in money laundering or terrorism financing. Which is clearly why Islandsbanki had no choice but to eventually return the funds. But when the bank shamelessly shifted blame in court, asking why Talk Liberation didn’t just “find another bank,” Suzie fired back with a resounding statement, marking the crux of the entire case:

“This is a very clear example of victim blaming. It is like cutting someone’s legs off and then asking them why they can’t walk. We have a bank that’s frozen our funds and has wrongfully accused us of falsifying documentation, they falsely accused our trustee company of not even existing and then they are writing this into a system which any other bank will look into before making a decision about working with us. If Islandsbanki wants to understand why we can’t do business with other banks, then Islandsbanki has to come clean about what they wrote in the AML system that other banks are judging us on. We will never understand the true costs or true damages until we discover the answers to the question as to what Islandsbanki wrote and how it’s impacting us to this day.”

Talk Liberation wasn’t just a startup—it was a multi-million-dollar tech investment poised to benefit Iceland’s economy and provide an unparalleled and highly anticipated service. Islandsbanki’s unjust actions ruined Talk Liberation’s plans to operate out of Iceland, depriving the Icelandic economy and labour force of millions of dollars in tech investment across the ensuing period. Suzie further emphasised this in her testimony, stating, “It’s not just us that has been damaged by Islandsbanki, it is Iceland as well.”

The record illustrates the undeniable reality: that the bank’s baseless accusations and detrimental reports fed into international financial systems greatly impacted Talk Liberation’s ability to continue to access banking services globally and directly impeded and obstructed its Icelandic business development as well as effectively sabotaging its ability to fulfil its own community and partnership obligations.

A key outside witness corroborated Suzie’s testimony entirely, confirming the bank’s deliberate obstruction as well as Talk Liberation’s commitment to expanding their operations in Iceland – which was undermined by the bank’s actions.

Distraction Tactics & New Zealand’s Parallel Attack

Desperate to deflect, Islandsbanki tried to shift attention from its role in Talk Liberation’s banking issues, to Suzie’s recent de-banking in New Zealand—where state-owned Kiwibank abruptly closed her account after nearly 25 years of her being a customer, with no explanation nor justification provided for the termination of her account.

But a formal complaint with the New Zealand Banking Ombudsman unearthed hundreds of damning internal documents, revealing major discrepancies and exposing Kiwibank’s problematic record-keeping, mishandled complaints, and suspicious inconsistencies in how Suzie’s accounts and personal information were managed by the bank. This wasn’t an isolated incident, but part of a global pattern of financial suppression.

Immediate Post-Hearing Thoughts: Key Concessions Achieved!.

John along with Fiorella also gave some immediate thoughts to the day’s hearing, agreeing that Talk Liberation won a key concession in court. Here’s a wrap up of what went down and check out our press release to learn more about our case and what’s to come. The David vs Goliath story continues on September 2, 2025!

Thoughts from Suzie Dawson, Talk Liberation Founder

I have to be honest: my experience in court so far – and I stress so far – actually went a ways towards restoring my faith in democracy as well as in the rule of law. Iceland by all appearances actually has an independent judiciary. The fact that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, the most-smeared publisher and journalist arguably in history, were able to achieve justice in Iceland even at the height of the systemic and political attacks upon them, was in and of itself a great sign. So far so good, in terms of Talk Liberation being able to achieve the same. On a smaller scale than Julian, I’ve had a taste of what it means to be targeted and smeared for work performed in the public interest. From cyberstalkers to pseudonymous blogger smear merchants to private investigators to state-level targeting, no good turn by me has gone unpunished these last 15 years since I accidentally fell into activism and journalism by merit of just trying to help and support people. Having returned, since 2020, to my information technology roots, only to be targeted, smeared and sabotaged by banks, however, is an all new frontier for me – and it is also where I draw the line. My commitment to my staff, community and our supporters is absolute. All of them have been harmed by what was done to us by Islandsbanki. In fact, the Icelandic economy and therefore the Icelandic people, have been hurt too. It is our obligation to stand up and push back, on behalf of everyone who cannot. And that is what brought us to Court in Iceland. It’s not just about me. It’s about all of us.

“Iceland by all appearances actually has an independent judiciary. The fact that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, the most-smeared publisher and journalist arguably in history, were able to achieve justice in Iceland even at the height of the systemic and political attacks upon them, was in and of itself a great sign. So far so good, in terms of Talk Liberation being able to achieve the same.” – Suzie Dawson, Talk Liberation founder

I pointed that out in my testimony, speaking directly from my heart, and felt it resonate. My general impression was that the judge seemed interested and engaged throughout.

The bank tried to victim-blame us for suffering the inevitable results of their own decisions and actions and it spectacularly backfired on them in court. Kiwis are famously blunt, frank and pragmatic and the bank’s lawyer got a full dose of it from me. I just don’t have time for coyness, game-playing or manipulation: I’m going to call the spade a spade and that’s precisely what I did.

We bent over backwards trying to work this all out directly with the bank in 2022, but they wouldn’t play ball. We disclosed, disclosed and disclosed and made very reasonable requests: yet they stonewalled us, refused to engage, and disclosed nothing. Even when they unfroze our funds, they couldn’t muster so much as an apology let alone compensation. They thought they could discriminate against and harm us with impunity. They’re likely thinking twice now.

“It’s not just us that has been damaged by Islandsbanki, it is Iceland as well.”
– Suzie Dawson, Talk Liberation founder

The hearing itself was to determine whether damages were incurred to us by Islandsbanki, yet puzzlingly the bank didn’t even seem to deny that, just instead tried to make arguments to limit the amount of the damage, which from where I’m sitting is as good as an admission of guilt on their part. And my counterargument was simple: open the AML records, show us what you wrote about us into the global financial system, then we can assess the size of the damages. Then we can understand the full extent of what has been done to us. And until they do that, it’s impossible to quantify the full extent of the damages.

Each time I raised the prospect of the AML records being opened to judicial review and scrutinised by the Court, the bank’s lawyer said “No further questions” and sat down. It’s a topic that is apparently kryptonite to them. Or perhaps it’s just another admission of guilt. After all, they know full well what they’ve done to us – and their game is to try to prevent us from finding out. But I think the Court is onto them and I’m very hopeful that there will be transparency and accountability.

I’m very open-minded about the potential outcomes from this point, both in this court and in any later appeals from either side. I’m convinced that eventually the bank, having run out of other arguments, is going to resort to personal attacks by association. Our lawyers, however, say that the second the bank tries to make this political, our chances of winning skyrocket.

“Even when they unfroze our funds, they couldn’t muster so much as an apology let alone compensation. They thought they could discriminate against and harm us with impunity. They’re likely thinking twice now.” – Suzie Dawson, Talk Liberation founder

So I remain hopeful that justice will triumph and that the ability to seek redress through the courts will be validated. In which case, I think many more people than just myself will find cause to believe in democracy and the rule of law once again, thanks to Iceland leading the way.

Thoughts from John Kiriakou, Talk Liberation Brand Ambassador

Talk Liberation’s quest for justice in the Icelandic judicial system continues, and we have some good news, even if only incrementally moving the case in the right direction.

In 2022, in a crippling, unjustified, and possibly illegal move, Talk Liberation’s bank, Islandsbanki (Iceland Bank) arbitrarily and without any warning, froze the company’s accounts and seized nearly $1 million in investor funds that the accounts held. The bank absurdly invoked money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws as a justification before changing its mind and ultimately releasing the money nine months later. They did, however, ban Talk Liberation from doing business with the bank, making a series of outrageous allegations, disproven by voluntary disclosures made by Talk Liberation. Other Icelandic banking institutions subsequently also refused to do business with Talk Liberation, apparently having heard of the Islandsbanki seizure through the global Anti Money Laundering system.

The bottom line, at least as far as Talk Liberation is concerned, is that the company had done nothing wrong, while Islandsbanki by its actions effectively admitted that it was wrong for freezing the account, but offered no explanation, no apology, and no compensation for the costs and damages inflicted upon the company. Indeed, the release of new products and services were substantially delayed while the matter was resolved.

The bank’s strategy so far has been simple: Just stonewall and adopt the old CIA strategy of, “Admit nothing, deny everything, make counteraccusations.” Bank officials held to that until June 19, 2025, when the judge ordered them to start producing witnesses. The next hearing, with witnesses, will be on September 2.

“It was a procedural victory. But it was a victory nonetheless. And it upheld the tenet of equal justice. The little guy won a battle against a Goliath today in what is likely to be a long war.” – John Kiriakou, Talk Liberation Brand Ambassador

The story is bigger than just a small tech company being manhandled by a big bank and then suing them. You see, in just the past month, Talk Liberation founder Suzie Dawson, a New Zealand national, has also been forcibly de-banked in New Zealand with no explanation or recourse. Suzie is a well-known figure in the international activist community. Is that why she has been de-banked? Is that why her company’s accounts were frozen? Is it because she was close to Julian Assange and Wikileaks? Doesn’t she deserve an explanation? Doesn’t everybody deserve due process?

Well, one major challenge is that Icelandic law does not have the concept of discovery. The bank is thus not compelled to turn over evidence of its wrongdoing to Talk Liberation. Instead, Talk Liberation has to tell the judge something along the lines of, “We know that the bank has ABC document, which says XYZ, and we want a copy of it.” That’s insane. Why not just say, “I had a psychic vision that the bank has ABC document that says XYZ and we want a copy of it?” You would have an equal chance of getting that document.

As I said, the judge was having none of that. Suzie testified in the most recent hearing, as did an Icelandic former attorney who worked to register the company in Iceland and to open the bank account. They testified independently of one another, haven’t had contact with each other in several years, and yet each said exactly the same thing under oath.

The judge appeared to be convinced. She could have thrown the case out. She could have upheld the bank’s request to deny Talk Liberation access to bank employees testifying under oath. But she didn’t. She told the bank to produce the employees and to come back to court on September 2 to explain why they did what they did. It was a procedural victory. But it was a victory nonetheless. And it upheld the tenet of equal justice. The little guy won a battle against a Goliath today in what is likely to be a long war.

Thoughts from Fiorella Isabel, Talk Liberation Media Director

The morning of the trial we could see that our legal team had come with a clear mind as to how to proceed. They needed to get the bank to show some cards. In a revealing courtroom exchange, Talk Liberation’s Icelandic attorney, Sveinn Andri Sveinsson, methodically dismantled Islandsbanki’s justifications for freezing Talk Liberation’s $1 million seed funding and exposed the bank’s attempts to avoid accountability.

The push revealed a pattern of obfuscation and outright stonewalling by the Icelandic banking giant. The judge agreed that while Talk Liberation had brought witnesses, Islandsbanki, who had made many false accusations against Talk Liberation, did not.

Some Key Revelations:

1. Talk Liberation’s Structure Was Normal
   1. The witness, an Icelandic solicitor who assisted Talk Liberation in 2022-2023, confirmed under oath that the company’s corporate setup—including its Icelandic subsidiary and Cook Islands parent entity—was fully compliant and transparent.
   2. When pressed by Sveinn, the same witness stated unequivocally: “No, I saw nothing unnatural in the structure.”
2. Due Diligence Done, Yet Accounts Frozen Anyway
   1. Despite Talk Liberation submitting all requested documentation every step of the way, Islandsbanki abruptly froze its funds under vague invocations of “money laundering and terrorist financing” legislation.
   2. The witness testified: “We gave them everything they asked for… but they never provided clear reasons for the freeze.”
3. The Missing “Suspicious Activity Report”
   1. Sveinn grilled the witness on whether Islandsbanki had filed an AML Suspicious Transaction report—a move that could cause Talk Liberation to be effectively blacklisted in Iceland, and even globally.
   2. Response: “I asked directly if they’d reported the company. They refused to confirm or deny.”
4. Omissions or Bad-Faith Negotiations
   1. Islandsbanki suggested funds be moved to a trust account—then blocked the transfer anyway, taking nine months before eventually releasing the funds.
   2. When Talk Liberation tried opening new accounts? “They were closed without explanation.”

In 2022 Islandsbanki acted as accuser and judge, jury and executioner, freezing funds without supporting evidence and potentially making it impossible for Talk Liberation to open new accounts—effectively financially sanctioning them. This action deeply affected the pace of business development despite the fact that Talk Liberation continued persisting in offering quality products and following through with their goals. If the law upholds justice, an injustice was done to Talk Liberation and the bank should be held accountable for that as well as the way they conducted their affairs.

If this happens, this could set a precedent for others facing financial persecution. As said during the court by Suzie, this is about much more than simply Talk Liberation. De-banking as a practice is damaging to state economies and is a global trend that is dangerous to anyone who is a dissident or even merely viewed as one. If such power over the lives of people resides in banks or shadow officials, then this is something much more frightening than we’ve all anticipated—and we should all be worried.

The Peak Is Far But the View Is Promising

In March 2025, Talk Liberation launched the #BadBanki online campaign, a daring initiative aimed at exposing the alarming trend of de-banking as a tool of political repression. We’re compiling meticulously irrefutable evidence in documented cases and harrowing firsthand accounts that reveal the chilling reality that financial exclusion via banks has become a weapon. And we’re rallying the world to fight back.

“We’ve forced the system to blink and we’ve shown that even the most powerful banks can be made to answer. Now, the pressure is on them to reveal their hand.”
– Fiorella Isabel, Talk Liberation Media Director

Hosted at BadBanki.com, Talk Liberation exposes that de-banking is being weaponised internationally. Through meticulous research, Talk Liberation continues to highlight this disturbing global phenomenon, urging the public to take action against systemic financial discrimination. The campaign provides a global megaphone divulging how banks silence dissent, crush activists, and strangle opposition by cutting off their financial lifelines— amplifying the fight for financial justice and accountability.

Talk Liberation demands transparency, justice, and reform. This case isn’t over and the final verdict is still to come. But make no mistake—we’ve already taken pivotal steps forward towards achieving redress for what was done to the team. We’ve forced the system to blink and we’ve shown that even the most powerful banks can be made to answer. Now, the pressure is on them to reveal their hand.

How Can People Help in This Fight Against Unfair Banking Practices?

Follow this ongoing David vs Goliath struggle for justice against a powerful banking institution at BadBanki.com.

Write to us or reach out on social media

Contact our Media Director for interviews and commentary

Have you seen the NEW official Talk Liberation website?

“This is about people not machines.” So begins the About Page description of the brand spanking new official Talk Liberation website. We’d love you to check it out and let us know what you think!

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