The UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, warned on Friday that the situation with press freedom in the United States could worsen after Washington used the Espionage Act to indict WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, warned on Friday that the situation with press freedom in the United States could worsen after Washington used the Espionage Act to indict WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The US government indicted on Thursday Assange on 17 additional charges, including conspiracy to obtain, receive and disclose national defense information.
"Regardless of what you think about Wikileaks or Julian Assange, an espionage act prosecution can only turn out badly for press freedom in this country," Kaye wrote on Twitter.
The UN rapporteur cited Thursday's article by the New York Times editorial board that said the indictment posed a threat to freedom of expression and, with it, the resilience of democracy in the United States.� �
New US charges follow an earlier indictment against Assange, which was unsealed by the United States in April, of allegedly conspiring with US former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into the US government computer network and steal classified documents.
If convicted, Assange faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison on each count except for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, for which he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The world-famous whistleblower was arrested in London on April 11 after seven years of taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy. Assange had to seek refuge in the embassy of the Latin American country due to rape allegations, following his visit to Sweden in 2010. He vehemently denied all the allegations against him. On May 1, a court in London sentenced Assange to 50 weeks in prison for breaching bail by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy.
The United States has to provide the UK government with all necessary documents for Assange's extradition until June 12.
