The cause of the death of the 76-year-old, who was known as the founder of Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) and as a mentor of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains ambiguous.
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Renowned investigative journalist and director of WikiLeaks Gavin MacFadyen passed away, as per the tweet posted from the WikiLeaks official Twitter account on October 22. The cause of the death of the 76-year-old, who was known as the founder of Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) and as a mentor of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains ambiguous. However, CIJ on its website claims that the MacFadyen lost his life to lung cancer.
MacFadyen, who was also a filmmaker, has made more than 50 documentaries since the 1970s, focusing on wide array of subjects like industrial accidents, history of CIA, Watergate, neo-Nazi violence of the UK, nuclear proliferation etc. He founded CJI in 2003 to advance training in the field of investigative journalism for in-depth, sceptical and adversarial reporting. Over the next 13 years he helped train thousands of reporters from over 35 countries, many of which are places where free media is under attack. He trained several students through CIJ.
In the recent years, his focussed on facilitating and protecting whistleblowing activities. He was closely linked to Assange, and was also responsible for Julian Assange Defence Committee, which raises funds to manage the legal expenses of Assange and other WikiLeaks staff.
He reportedly breathed his last in London on October 22.