Julian Assange’s lawyers are in court today in Great Britain.
WikiLeaks says the US government confirmed that there are no known cases of anyone being harmed by their publications on the first day of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing on Monday.
The Pentagon previously testified that no one was harmed by the release during the trial of Chelsea Manning in 2013.
US Gov confirms no physical harm has occurred to a single individual as a result of documents published by WikiLeaks.#assangecase #dontextraditeassange #freepress https://t.co/2FrmDoD7kr
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 24, 2020
“All that the US government QC, James Lewis, could muster was that there might be a ‘risk’ of harm…but no actual harm occurred,” a press release from WikiLeaks pointed out. “To try and bolster this flimsy claim the US government argued that Wikileaks material was read by enemies of the United States. Yet this could be true of any story critical of government, and certainly true of any material revealed by a whistleblower.”
https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/1231926284705583105?s=20
The US government had attempted to charge Manning with aiding in the enemy during their trial, but the whistleblower was found not guilty on that count.
BREAKING:
US government says that a journalist receiving classified information from a whistleblower and >asking for more< is “aiding & abetting” a criminal.
Dear Journalists, have fun rotting in a US prison cell if you ever dare to ask your source for more information 😂
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) February 24, 2020
“What is however certain is that WikiLeaks has repeatedly revealed war crimes committed by the US government which did indeed cause harm. Not the ‘risk’ of harm but the actually maiming and killing of innocent citizens,” the WikiLeaks press release continued. “The US government then went on to make the untrue claim that Wikileaks released unredacted material…an accusation previously refuted by Wikileaks.”
« The prosecutor's opening argument repeated many times that Assange put in danger political dissidents, journalists, and human rights defenders, but he was not capable of naming any victims. » @cdeloire pic.twitter.com/Zod1pOQzbu
— RSF (@RSF_inter) February 24, 2020
4) prosecution cited/presented no evidence that any US sources were harmed, only that its "likely to have occurred". Incredibly, as 'evidence' prosecution head James Lewis cited was a 2010 NYT article on 'Taliban studying #WikiLeaks'. NYT, not exactly reliable. #JulianAssange
— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) February 24, 2020
The trial over extraditing Assange to the United States is currently taking place at the Woolwich Magistrates Court in London. He faces charges under the Espionage Act in the United States for his publication of the Iraq and Afghan War Logs. If extradited and convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 175 years for the “crime” of publishing material that the US government did not want the public to know.
Update from the trial: US arguments have clear contradictions. pic.twitter.com/Hlcc9AdEpj
— Don't Extradite Assange – #FreeAssange (@DEAcampaign) February 24, 2020
In a chilling warning for all journalists and news organizations the Prosecution says newspapers would be charged with the same conduct (as Assange is) even if it is not also accused of aiding and abetting – 'otherwise they could just publish whatever they want’ https://t.co/1PjrS71MM2
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 24, 2020
Protesters outside were so loud that Assange had to ask for them to quiet down so he could hear the case against him.
Police forced @DEAcampaign to remove articles from the Guardian Iraq war logs publications that were put up where the press is located citing “no propaganda material” @couragefound @wikileaks pic.twitter.com/3SEgwIHuQ1
— Kelly Kolisnik (@kellykolisnik) February 24, 2020
Yellow vests & Assange supporters singing for Julian outside Woolwich pic.twitter.com/lr8cdnF87b
— Taylor Hudak (@_taylorhudak) February 24, 2020