Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been referred to as no more than an “ordinary” criminal at the beginning of an extradition case against him yesterday.
Assange is accused of violating the Espionage Act and faces 17 counts for his involvement in the publication of confidential diplomatic and military documents.
If found guilty of all the charges brought against him, he could face up to 175 years in prison.
James Lewis, a lawyer representing the U.S government, said that: “Reporting or journalism is not an excuse for criminal activities or a license to break ordinary criminal laws.”
He continued that: “publishing specific classified documents that contained unredacted names of innocent people who risked their safety and freedom to aid the United States and its allies.”
Assange first published the confidential documents in 2010, when they were leaked to him by Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst. Manning is currently in prison for refusing to testify against Assange before a grand jury.
The case against Assange has caused controversy with regards to the First Amendment.
Manning and Assange are believed to have conspired to break into a military network using the identity of another user. Among the leaks included a video showing an attack in Baghdad showing the killing of a dozen people in 2007.
Defenders gathered outside the courtroom, protesting what they consider to be a politically motivated charge.
According to the New York Times, Assange was “perhaps the world’s most famous self-proclaimed political refugee”, due to his seven-year refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, during which time he was subject to extradition claims to Sweden over allegations of rape. These were ultimately dropped.
Defence lawyer, Mark Summers, said that Assange’s case was “part of an avowed war on whistle-blowers to include investigative journalists and publishers.”
The case continues.
