I just don't get why these people think that 'silencing' Assange would stop the leaks from happening, don't they (WL) have an algorithm running the dumps, and people ready to take the helm if he died?
It certainly doesn't change a thing and they are prepared and decentralized enough to avoid many attacks, but in general single persons can be very important to organizations and wikileaks is not that big.
They distribute an encrypted torrent of all their files. The decryption key is supposed to be released via a dead man's switch, according to Assange.