Just hours after the arrest of Julian Assange, the US Department of Justice announced what the WikiLeaks co-founder in the United States is accused of: conspiring with whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Specifically, Assange is accused of helping Chelsea Manning break the password of a computer network in the Pentagon.
Whistleblower Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013, but was pardoned four years later by US President Barack Obama. Assange, on the other hand, would only face a maximum sentence of five years if convicted.
Under one roof with Russia?
However, it was initially unclear whether Assange should expect further charges in the US. Russia special investigator Robert Mueller had also studied the role of WikiLeaks in the hacking attack against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic headquarters in the 2016 election campaign. The publication of the Mueller report is expected next week.
The fact that the US government accuses Assange of much more than cracking a password, the then-CIA chief and today’s US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear in April 2017: WikiLeaks is a „non-state hostile intelligence service, often with state players such as Russia Under one roof, „Pompeo said. His allegations were not only directed against the publication of tens of thousands of secret government documents in 2010, but also against the publication of secret mail shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
„Documents simply uploaded unchecked“
But legal experts in the US are debating whether Assange can also be punished for publishing secret government documents. The core issue is whether this is not protected by the right to freedom of expression, as it is with investigative reporters reporting on secret government documents. Or whether the WikiLeaks co-founder can be punished as a co-conspirator and henchman of hostile governments.
„This issue has never been resolved by US courts,“ said legal expert Jeffrey Toobin on CNN. Now she is finally being examined. „And anyone who says that’s a simple thing, does not tell the truth.“
The Obama administration eventually came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to convict Assange for publishing secret government documents. In contrast, Trump’s former Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, and then-CIA chief Mike Pompeo always said there was an important difference between WikiLeaks and investigative journalists. While journalists review and edit the information they have been sent to, and examine possible threats to uninvolved third parties, the disclosure platform has uploaded tens of thousands of documents simply unchecked.
„That’s not my business“
If Assange is actually being tried in the US, his defense could also refer to statements made by current President Donald Trump. He had expressed himself enthusiastically about WikiLeaks in the 2016 election campaign.
In the US, therefore, was eagerly awaited how Trump would comment on the arrest of the founder of WikiLeaks. Meanwhile he did that – at least with a curt commentary: „I do not know about WikiLeaks, that’s not my business.“
