against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 new counts
on the alleged violation of the Espionage Act by publishing
classified information through WikiLeaks website.
If convicted for all counts, Assange could face a maximum
sentence of 175 years in U.S. prison for his “alleged role in one
of the largest compromises of classified information in the history
of the United States.”
Assange was arrested last
month in London after Ecuador abruptly withdrew his asylum and
later sentenced to 50 weeks in U.K.
prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012.
[1][2]
The 47-year-old is currently facing extradition to the United
States for his role in publishing thousands of classified
diplomatic and military documents on WikiLeaks in 2010 that
embarrassed the U.S. governments across the world.
Though the previous indictment charged Assange with just one
count of helping former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning
crack the password, the latest 18-count
indictment[3] accuses him of receiving
and unlawfully publishing U.S. military and diplomatic documents
over a dozen times, which is a violation of the old 1917 the
Espionage Act.
Until now, the DoJ has only prosecuted and charged government
officials who leak classified information to the media or public,
but this is the first time when the 102-year-old, First World
War-era Espionage Act has been used against a journalist.
The Espionage Act forbids the disclosure of national defense
information that could be used against the United States or to the
advantage of any foreign nation.
“Assange then published on WikiLeaks classified documents that
contained the unredacted names of human sources who provided
information to United States forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to
U.S. State Department diplomats around the world,” Justice
Department says.
“These human sources included local Afghans and Iraqis,
journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and
political dissidents from repressive regimes.”
sources with access to classified information to steal and provide
it to Wikileaks to disclose.”
“Assange’s actions risked serious harm to United States national
security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted
named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious
physical harm and/or arbitrary detention,” DoJ says.
on Twitter calling the prosecution “madness” and “the end of
national security journalism and the First Amendment,” which
guarantees free speech.
References
- ^
arrested last month
(thehackernews.com) - ^
50 weeks in U.K. prison
(thehackernews.com) - ^
18-count indictment
(www.justice.gov) - ^
says
(www.justice.gov)
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