Posted on 12/13/2010 1:33:08 PM PST by pinochet
Before everybody gets all crazy, let’s look at the Espionage statute.
18 U.S.C. Sec 793 states,
(c) Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid, receives or obtains or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain from any person, or from any source whatever, any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note, of anything connected with the national defense, knowing or having reason to believe, at the time he receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain it, that it has been or will be obtained, taken, made, or disposed of by any person contrary to the provisions of this chapter; [...] Shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years.
Nothing about citizenship.
Nothing about residence.
Nothing about in the US or offshore.
Treason, no. Espionage, yes.
“18 U.S.C. Sec 793 states,”
The above legal stature was passed in the United States, it has legal validity only where the US legal jurisdiction is found.
Chinese espionage laws apply to the legal jurisdiction in China. They have no legal validity in the USA.
You cannot extradite Putin, former KGB, for espionage against the USA.
Assange is an Australian citizen and has never set foot in any USA legal jurisdiction in his life.
USA legal jurisdiction is not global.
>>>>But he received classified documents belonging to the U.S. government and wrongfully taken from them. That’s a criminal act regardless of where you are or your citizenship
Assange’s behavior is wrong. The problem is that American law does not apply to other countries. If an American citizen living in the US, was to receive classified documents from Russia, would Russia have the ability to prosecute him under Russian espionage laws?
I would be very surprised if Swedish judges were to extradite Assange to America. Leftist anti-Americanism is strong in Sweden. Sweden also permits the violation of US Copyright laws, despite having a binding international agreement with the US to enforce such laws.
Jurisdiction not global?
Ask Manuel Noriega.
Ask Mir Aimal Kasi
Ask the Nairobi bombers
Yes, he did (in what is now West Virginia, but was part of Virginia at the time).
It is not Julian Assange’s responsibility to protect the information assets of the US Government. The outrage against him is puzzling to me.
Why is that the NYT cannot be charged with possession of stolen property? We know the information was stolen and we know who stole it.
He committed the crime in Harper's Ferry. He didn't live there, or anywhere else in Virginia, and never had.
Enemy combatant? Then you'll have to charge everyone who has quoted these documents (that would include Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity). Come to think of it, that's not such a bad idea.
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