Posted on 09/06/2020 11:47:42 AM PDT by RandFan
LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to fight for his freedom in a British court after a decade of legal drama, as he challenges American authorities’ attempt to extradite him on spying charges over the site’s publication of secret U.S. military documents.
Lawyers for Assange and the U.S. government are scheduled to face off in London Monday at an extradition hearing that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
American prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges adding up to a maximum sentence of 175 years. His lawyers say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle press freedom and put journalists at risk.
Assange attorney Jennifer Robinson said the case “is fundamentally about basic human rights and freedom of speech.”
“Journalists and whistle-blowers who reveal illegal activity by companies or governments and war crimes – such as the publications Julian has been charged for – should be protected from prosecution,” she said.
American prosecutors say Assange is a criminal, not a free-speech hero.
They allege that Assange conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also say he conspired with members of hacking organizations and sought to recruit hackers to provide WikiLeaks with classified information.
...
Assange argues he is a journalist entitled to First Amendment protection, and says the leaked documents exposed U.S. military wrongdoing. Among the files released by WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Murders don’t even get 175 years
He has p*ssed off the wrong people - the Military Industrial Complex.
So if assange is faced with 175 yrs in the clink, how many years should hildabeast be looking at?
A mere fraction of the charges Mrs. Bill Clinton should face.
His wikileaks vault releases about Pizzagate and the Podesta perverts, Hillary and public and private position, Uranium one were a huge help to Trump in 2016. He did not release a single thing harmful to Trump.
It’s shameful to let this farce go on. And it goes on for one reason, so the left and the neocons can pretend Russia stole DNC emails and gave them to Wikileaks.
He did nothing not done worse by the NYT and CNN and Hillary.
I think you hit the nail on the head.
The Permanent (Deep) State/Establishment. Call it whatever you like. Government employee’s: overwhelmingly Dems. They are out to get this guy.
175 years!
President Trump is going to have to intervene at some point.
We will soon see...
What sort of jurisdiction has the U.S. over this case?
I think they argue he hacked US computers or something. Assange denies any hacking and says his source (Manning) uploaded the files via the Wikileaks website
Can Trump interfere with a judicial process though?
I’d say 4-500, busting rocks with a 12-pound hammer.
Lenient at only 4-500 yrs, but adding the busting rock makes it better
Smoke and mirrors. We are trying to get Assange extradited to the U.S. so that Trump can pardon him. (SAVE him).
Now Julian, who murdered Seth Rich?
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