WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2019) The United States' decision to charge WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with conspiracy is "unprecedented and unconstitutional," and sets a dangerous precedent for US journalists, Ben Wizner, director of the speech, privacy and technology project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a press release.
"Any prosecution by the United States of Mr. Assange for Wikileaks' publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations," Wizner said.
The ACLU also noted that prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating US secrecy law sets a dangerous president, considering that US journalists routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to unearth vital information.
On Thursday, the US Justice Department charged Assange with conspiracy related to a 2010 release of classified US documents provided by former US Army soldier Chelsea Manning.
UK police arrested Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday after Ecuador terminated his political asylum.
Since 2012, Assange had been residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced a probe over allegations of sexual offenses. Assange denied those allegations and called them politically motivated. While Swedish police dropped the investigation in 2017, Assange has said he remained wary of being extradited to the United States.
