Julian Assange’s release of classified US documents through WikiLeaks has been deemed as putting lives at risk. This article provides an overview of the ongoing legal battle and the allegations against Assange.
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is currently facing extradition to the United States for his role in publishing classified US documents. The US government argues that Assange’s actions put lives at risk by revealing the names of sources in unredacted files related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. This article provides an overview of the ongoing legal battle and the allegations against Assange.
Allegations and Legal Battle
The US legal team claims that Assange encouraged and assisted Chelsea Manning, a US intelligence analyst, in obtaining classified information, including around 400,000 Iraq war-related activity reports and 250,000 US State Department cables. Many of these documents were published unredacted through WikiLeaks. The US argues that by publishing this information, Assange created a grave and imminent risk that the human sources named therein would suffer serious physical harm.
Assange’s lawyers, on the other hand, argue that the US case is “state retaliation” and extradition would be against UK law. They claim that the prosecution of Assange is based on his alleged actions, not his political opinions. They also argue that Assange should be treated as a journalist and that his actions fall under the ambit of responsible journalism.
Impact and Consequences
The release of unredacted files by Assange has had profound consequences. Some of the named sources in the documents, who had provided information to the US, now face arrest, loss of assets, threats, and harassment. The leak has been described as one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.
Ongoing Legal Proceedings
Assange has been in Belmarsh prison in London since his arrest in 2019 at the request of US authorities. In a January 2021 ruling, a district judge denied his extradition to the US, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide. However, the judge ruled against him on all other issues, including the argument that he was acting as a journalist. Later that year, the US authorities won a High Court bid to overturn that decision, paving the way for extradition to face conspiracy charges.
The latest hearing, brought by Assange, seeks the right to challenge the original judge’s dismissal of other parts of his case. The judges are expected to rule later, and if Assange is refused permission to appeal, his only opportunity to avoid extradition would be to ask the European Court of Human Rights to intervene.