The US government’s indictment of Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange on 17 additional charges under the Espionage Act has shocked and horrified journalists who are calling it an unprecedented attack on press freedom.
The new indictment claims Assange endangered the lives of individuals working for the US government when Wikileaks published leaked documents received from intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010. Under the draconian Espionage Act, which has never before been used against a journalist publishing classified information, Assange faces up to 10 years in prison for each charge.
“Assange was complicit with Chelsea Manning…in unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense,” the Department of Justice said in a statement, while National Security Division head John Demers insisted “Julian Assange is no journalist.”
Actual journalists, however, were horrified by the “unprecedented assault on the First Amendment.”
“This is the first time in history that anyone operating in a journalistic capacity has been charged under the Espionage Act,” Michael Tracey tweeted, adding in another tweet that the charges represented “the gravest attack on the First Amendment in years — possibly ever.” Even the Obama administration, which prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined, ultimately opted not to pursue charges against Assange, concerned such prosecution would violate the First Amendment.
John Pilger didn’t mince words, declaring “Modern fascism is breaking cover” and warning mainstream media that they were next.
The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald highlighted the hypocrisy of mainstream media “proclaiming to be so very concerned about attacks on a free press” while remaining mute on Assange’s prosecution – or even cheering it on.
WikiLeaks called it “the end of national security journalism and the first amendment, while NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden affirmed the case was much bigger than Assange, warning that it “will decide the future of media.”
Even some mainstream media journalists finally seemed to realize the gravity of the situation.
“What happens to Assange today can happen to the NYT or WaPo tomorrow,” investigative journalist James Ball tweeted.
Jeffrey St. Clair of CounterPunch made an important distinction between Wikileaks’ journalism and the mainstream media, however: “Assange has had to issue fewer corrections than the NYT and none of his stories has helped launch a war.“
Assange was arrested last month upon his eviction from the Ecuadorean embassy in London. He is currently serving 50 months for an eight-year-old bail-jumping charge, having sought asylum in the embassy in 2012 out of concern that sexual assault charges levied against him by the Swedish government were a pretense for extradition to the US.
A US indictment unsealed last month charged him with conspiring with Manning to unlawfully access a government computer, but other whistleblowers warned other charges would follow.
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