WikiLeaks founder arrested

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested on Thursday, April 11, by the British government on a U.S. extradition request after his asylum was revoked from the Ecuadorian Embassy.

Ecuador revoked Assange’s citizenship and forced him to leave its embassy after recent WikiLeaks releases, which the country says interfered with its internal affairs. Additionally, Assange failed to take proper care of his personal areas and the Ecuadorian government started to become impatient due to the length of Assange’s stay.

Assange, who faces charges in the U.S. for conspiring to hack into a Pentagon server network in 2010, has not stepped-foot outside of the embassy in seven years since he was granted asylum in 2012.

According to U.S. prosecutors, Assange is accused of helping whistleblower Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) obtain a government password and acquire confidential documents.  

Assange was almost immediately found guilty of jumping bail in England–which can lead to a year in prison–after pleading not guilty, but analysts predict that it could take years for Assange to be extradited and would have an extremely strong defense based in on the First Amendment. The U.S. could possibly bring further charges, which would make prosecution much lengthier.

Barry Pollack, one of Assange’s lawyers, explained that charges such as these could threaten journalistic freedom around the world.

“While the indictment against Julian Assange disclosed today charges a conspiracy to commit computer crimes, the factual allegations against Mr. Assange boil down to encouraging a source to provide him information and taking efforts to protect the identity of that source,” Pollack said. “Journalists around the world should be deeply troubled by these unprecedented criminal charges.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disagreed however, believing that Assange should be punished for his accused crimes.

“I think it is clear from the indictment it’s not about punishing journalism, it’s about assisting the hacking of the military computer to steal information from the United States government,” Clinton said. “And, I’ll wait and see what happens with the charges and how it proceeds, but he skipped bail in the UK. Sweden had those charges which have been dropped in the last several years, but the bottom line is that he has to answer for what he has done at least as it’s been charged.”

Clinton’s 2016 presidential loss may have been partially attributed to WikiLeaks.

Assange’s indictment, however, features no mention of recent WikiLeaks publications, such as its publishing of CIA hacking tools and emails from the DNC.

During his arrest, Assange appeared to be resisting before he was forced into a police van.

In a tweet, WikiLeaks tried to defend Assange’s actions by noting his achievements and placing blame on organizations.

“This man is a son, a father, a brother. He has won dozens of journalism awards. He’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 2010. Powerful actors, including CIA, are engaged in a sophisticated effort to dehumanise, delegitimize and imprison him. #ProtectJulian,” the tweet said.

Whistleblower and fugitive Edward Snowden also critiqued the arrest on Twitter. Snowden, who is currently living in Moscow, leaked highly classified material from the National Security Agency in 2013.

In contrast, Sen. Mark R. Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, hopes that the extradition and trial will occur as quickly as possible.

“Whatever his intentions when he started WikiLeaks, what he’s really become is a direct participant in Russian efforts to undermine the West and a dedicated accomplice in efforts to undermine American security,” Warner said in a statement. “It is my hope that the British courts will quickly transfer him to U.S. custody so he can finally get the justice he deserves.”

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Matthew Rabinowitz of Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School