Extradition hearings for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange began this week in London.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Assange under the Espionage Act in relation to publishing documents leaked by Chelsea Manning detailing U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The charges allege that Assange aided Manning to retrieve the documents by helping her crack a password, effectively hacking into Pentagon computers. The U.S. government requested that Assange be extradited for trial.
But the Department of Justice under Barack Obama reviewed the same evidence and concluded Assange should not be indicted.
“If you are not going to prosecute journalists for publishing classified information, which the department is not, then there is no way to prosecute Assange,” then-DOJ spokesman Matthew Miller said.
What changed? This week, Assange’s defense team revealed a 2017 meeting with former U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Assange’s lawyers said Rohrabacher offered him a “preemptive pardon” in exchange for “personal assistance to President Donald Trump” regarding the Russian investigation.
The defense said Rohrabacher, whom they claimed directly represented Trump, asked Assange to publicly state that the leaked DNC emails did not come from the Russian government. Rohrabacher denied the meeting was on behalf of Trump. Assange’s defense used this example to assert that the Trump administration is trying to extort the WikiLeaks founder.
These new developments are troubling for journalists around the world. Fortunately, British courts stand between the U.S. government and Assange and can reject the extradition request.
The Collegian echoes the statement from Reporters Without Borders: “RSF urges the UK government to prioritize the principles of freedom of expression and the defense of journalism in its treatment of Assange.”