Swiss bank pulls Wikileaks lawsuit

A Swiss bank on Wednesday withdrew a federal lawsuit that had sparked an Internet furor by shutting down a muckraking website that publishes leaked documents alleging business and government misdeeds.

The dismissal was requested by Julius Baer & Co. of Zurich, which had sued Wikileaks.org after the site posted internal company documents raising questions about alleged money laundering and tax evasion schemes at the bank’s Cayman Islands branch.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White, citing privacy laws and the threat of identity theft for the bank’s customers, initially ordered the main entrance to the site shut down. But in response to media and public interest intervention, White reversed himself, noting that his order had only amplified public awareness of Wikileaks.

-- Henry Weinstein