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Julian Assange (Photo by Antonio Marín Segovi via Flickr)
Lawyers for WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting further information on the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Assange and WikiLeaks.
Former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, counsel to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) write, “In light of recent reports suggesting the possibility of an ongoing criminal investigation of Mr. Assange and/or WikiLeaks—and the existence of secret grand jury proceedings in the Eastern District of Virginia—we write to assess whether Mr. Assange in fact faces any criminal jeopardy in the United States and to protect his interests in the face of an investigation and/or trial.”
The grand jury exists and has been meeting. It has been confirmed in proceedings in the court martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks. It was also confirmed in diplomatic communications between the United States and Australia, which were covered by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The letter specifically asks for confirmation on whether Assange is a “target or subject of any federal grand jury investigation for alleged violations of the Espionage Act of 1917 and/or other federal criminal law.” It also seeks confirmation on whether the Justice Department plans to “ arrest or extradite Mr. Assange from Sweden or any other country to face current or prospective charges in the United States relating to WikiLeaks and/or his activities as a publisher and journalist.”
Noting the existence of ”indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, Section 1021 or of the September 21, 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force,” the letter inquires as to whether the Justice Department might be operating under the legal theory that Assange “may have provided ‘substantial support’ to Al Qaeda or ‘associated forces’ by publishing information passed to him by Bradley Manning.”
To what extent the Justice Department considers Assange or WikiLeaks to be legally “an enemy” is important for the lawyers representing WikiLeaks to find out. As Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian recently covered in detail, “A US air force systems analyst who expressed support for WikiLeaks and accused leaker Bradley Manning triggered a formal military investigation last year to determine whether she herself had leaked any documents to the group.” The Air Force interviewed her multiple times to elicit information on her contacts with and support for WikiLeaks. They referred to WikiLeaks, in documents, as an “ant-US or anti-military group.” And the crime she was being investigated for committing was, “Communicating with the Enemy,” an Article 104 offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (the same kind of offense Pfc. Manning allegedly committed).
The letter concludes, “We believe either prosecution or detention of a publisher/media organization would constitute an unwarranted and impermissible intrusion on the First Amendment and set a dangerous precedent.”
For over one hundred days, Assange has been in the Ecuador embassy. The Ecuador government has granted Assange asylum. Assange and the Ecuador government would like to obtain approval from the British government for “safe passage” to Ecuador. If that cannot be obtained because the United Kingdom remains committed to fulfilling Sweden’s request for extradition for questioning on allegations of sexual assault, the Ecuador government would like to find a way to resolve the issue.
Part of resolving the issue would require a presentation of facts and guarantees that Assange would not be extradited from Sweden to the United States if he went to Sweden. And, this letter is just one of a number of steps lawyers and the Ecuador government can take to defend Assange and get him one step closer to freedom from political persecution.
12 Comments
Is there some legal requirement that this letter be answered?(truthfully?).
No, but it is a good action to take publicly. It could serve to bolster arguments that the US government wants to bring a case against Assange. Not responding is not necessarily proof but, certainly, failing to provide a response makes it possible to say the fear of political persecution remains.
If they answer will that have any legal effect to bar them from later “changing their mind”? I guess this is posturing and a good move for Assange but I just don’t have any trust in “our” government.
I’m with you on this. Sweden had a policy prohibiting rendition, but with a letter promising not to torture they allowed the CIA to send a “suspect” to Egypt where he was tortured. Promises from the US govt., including Eric “Chiquita” Holder’s Justice Dept. aren’t worth shit.
OT note to Kevin. You may have missed this but SCOTUS refused to take Chevron’s side in their dispute with Ecuador. I was stunned by that decision.
Both you and BSbafflesbrains have valid skepticism. Keep in mind. This is about the court of public opinion, not the court of law.
I assume no country would offer pre-emptive guarantees of non-extradition in reply to a hypothetical, and more so where there are ongoing legal processes.
I wouldn’t trust the Karl Rove tutored PM of Sweden as far as I could throw him into a snowbank still.
Please help promote this link wherever you can; if you believe in freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Julian Assange for the Nobel prize for freedom of the press:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Julian_Assange_for_Nobel_prize_Freedom_of_the_Press/
Lets see how “Noble” the Norwegians and their righteous Swede neighbors are or claim to be, since they offered Obama the Nobel peace prize!
absolutely no reason at all to respond to this crud and no reason to care whether or not Assange, his lawyers and groupies are worried.
Assange is a narcissist waste of space and nothing more.
whatever does assange have to do with freedom of the press, ellas?
perhaps you share an opinion of press freedom with julian’s Ecuadorean pal, correa.
http://cpj.org/blog/2012/08/as-it-backs-assange-ecuador-represses-free-express.php
Crud? Golly gee, you don’t like Assange? Your feelings are insignificant in the grand scheme.
The United States is going after Julian Assange and WikiLeaks for publishing information they had a legal right to publish. There is no proof that they solicited the information. And they are a media organization with the right to publish like the Washington Post or the New York Times.
The targeting of WikiLeaks is an issue of freedom of the press.
Kevin, when you can substantiate your claim that the US is “going after” poor Mr Assange then you can attempt to pass wind of “no proof” about Assange being complicit in theft of proprietary information….. and by then, should that day arrive, the United States might have assembled proof sufficient to demonstrate Assange’s personal complicity.
somebody’s legal team may persuade some young felon that it’s not worth his while to shield Julian.
And, of course, Assange has already been convicted , in a court of law, of trespassing against the US governments private information….. which is NOT covered by press freedom.
What a bunch of malarkey.