WikiLeaks’ Assange to fight US extradition bid in court

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 US military documents.

Lawyers for Assange and the US government are scheduled to face off in London today 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 US 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 organisations and sought to recruit hackers to provide WikiLeaks with classified information.

“By disseminating the materials in an unredacted form, he likely put people - human rights activists, journalists, advocates, religious leaders, dissidents and their families - at risk of serious harm, torture or even death,” James Lewis, a British lawyer acting for the US government, told a hearing in February.

Assange argues that he is a journalist entitled to First Amendment protection, and says the leaked documents exposed US 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.

His lawyers argue that the prosecution is an abuse of process by a Trump administration that wants to make an example of Assange. They say he would be held in inhuman conditions and would not get a fair trial in the United States.

Journalism organisations and human rights groups have called on Britain to refuse the extradition request. Amnesty International said Assange was “the target of a negative public campaign by US officials at the highest levels”.

“If Julian Assange is prosecuted it could have a chilling effect on media freedom, leading publishers and journalists to self-censor in fear of retaliation,” said Amnesty’s Europe Director, Nils Muižnieks.