Assange ‘suicide risk’ if extradited
COURT: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is at “high risk of suicide” if extradited to the US to face claims he endangered the lives of whistleblowers around the world, his extradition hearing has been told.
Assange is wanted in the US to face 18 charges, which include espionage and hacking allegations.
WIKILEAKS FOUNDER Julian Assange is at “high risk of suicide” if extradited to the US to face claims he endangered the lives of whistleblowers around the world, his extradition hearing has been told.
Assange is wanted in the US to face 18 charges, including espionage and hacking allegations, over “one of the largest compromises of classified information” in the country’s history.
He could face up to 175 years in jail if found guilty of all of the charges, which relate to 2010 and 2011.
Representing Assange, Edward Fitzgerald QC said the extradition would be the “height of inhumanity”, exposing him to a lengthy sentence in an American prison and leading to a “high risk of suicide”.
But opening the case against the 48-year-old, James Lewis QC said some sources contained in classified documents published by WikiLeaks, “disappeared” after Assange put them at risk of “serious harm, torture or even death”.
He told District Judge Vanessa Baraitser at Woolwich Crown Court that information published by WikiLeaks was “useful to an enemy” of the US – with material found at al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan when he was killed in a 2011 raid. Mr Lewis said most of the charges relate to “straightforward criminal activity”.
He said Assange was involved in what was described as a “conspiracy to steal from and hack into” the department of defence computer system, along with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
“These are ordinary criminal charges and any person, journalist or source who hacks or attempts to gain unauthorised access to a secure system, or aids and abets others to do so, is guilty of computer misuse,” Mr Lewis said.
“Reporting or journalism is not an excuse for criminal activities or a licence to break ordinary criminal laws.
“This is true in the UK as it is in the USA, and indeed in any civilised country in the world.”
He said three charges relate to the dissemination of specific documents which put sources at risk.
He said that the US identified hundreds of “at-risk and potentially at-risk people” around the
James Lewis QC, who made the case for extraditing Julian Assange.
world and made efforts to warn them.
“The US is aware of sources, whose redacted names and other identifying information was contained in classified documents published by WikiLeaks, who subsequently disappeared, although the US can’t prove at this point that their disappearance was the result of being outed by WikiLeaks,” he added.
“What Mr Assange seeks to defend by free speech is not the publication of the classified materials, but he seeks to defend the publication of sources – the names of people who put themselves at risk to assist the US and its allies,” Mr Lewis continued.
“He is not charged with the disclosure of embarrassing or awkward information that the government would rather not be disclosed. The disclosure charges are solely where there was a risk of harm.”
Lawyers for Assange claim he is the victim of a politically-motivated prosecution.
His QC Mr Fitzgerald said it was “completely misleading” to suggest Assange and WikiLeaks were to blame for the disclosure of unredacted names and that the extradition should be barred because it was politically motivated.
The extradition hearing will be adjourned at the end of this week of legal argument and continue with three weeks of evidence scheduled to begin on May 18.
Reporting or journalism is not an excuse for criminal activities.