Journalism has been reclassified as espionage; An unprecedented prosecution has been taken against a publisher for the first time in the law's more than 100-year history, and will set a precedent…that can then be used against the rest of the press anywhere in the world. She said.
The United States wants Assange to face trial on one count of computer hacking and 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917, in connection with one of the largest leaks of classified material in history. If convicted, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison, although authorities have said any sentence would likely be much less.
Prosecutors say he conspired with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The treasure included 90,000 reports related to the war in Afghanistan, 400,000 reports related to the Iraq war, and 250,000 American diplomatic cables. Then-US President Barack Obama commuted Manning's 35-year prison sentence after four years.
Assange also released thousands of private emails from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, a development that dominated her 2016 campaign.
Assange's lawyers plan to argue that he cannot get a fair trial in the United States, that the US-British treaty prohibits extradition for political crimes, and that the crime of espionage was not intended to apply to publishers.
His lawyers believe that his foreign nationality and political views will make it difficult for him to get a fair trial. They also believe Biden may see Assange “more like a high-tech terrorist than a whistleblower.”
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Assange and his supporters also say his leaking of classified military documents should be protected under the First Amendment to the US Constitution because he was acting as a journalist when he released the documents. Those who have questioned the accusations include editorial boards New York times And WatchmanAnd also Amnesty International.
He has been detained in Belmarsh Prison in London since April 2019 when he was sentenced for skipping bail conditions. He had previously spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy after breaking bail in 2012 when he was due to be extradited to Sweden on unrelated sexual assault charges, which were later dropped. He was arrested by British police and forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in 2019.
Stella Assange told BBC Radio 4 everyoneThe program stated that “this may be Julian's last hearing.”
She added: “Julian cannot be safe in an American prison, there is no doubt about that.” “We know there are upcoming elections in the United States. “Simply put, he will never be safe if he is in US custody.”
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If the London court rejects Assange's request for a full appeal, he could be extradited to the United States once British officials agree to his extradition. His legal team plans to appeal a negative ruling to the European Court of Human Rights, but they fear he may be transferred before the court in Strasbourg, France, can stop his deportation.
Last week, the Australian Parliament approved a motion calling for Assange's return to Australia, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was one of the 86 MPs who voted in favor of him, compared to 42 who voted in favor of him. He expressed his hope that the issue would be “solved amicably.”
