US seals Assange’s fate

– American prosecutors have obtained a sealed indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whose website published thousands of classified US government documents, a US federal court document showed.

The document, which prosecutors say was filed by mistake, asks a judge to seal documents in a criminal case unrelated to Assange and carries markings indicating it was originally filed in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, in August.

A source familiar with the matter said the document was initially sealed but unsealed this week for reasons that are unclear.

On social network Twitter, Wikileaks said it was an “apparent cut-and-paste error”.

US officials had no comment on the disclosure in the document about a sealed indictment of Assange.

The document is part of an unrelated criminal case involving a 29-year-old man charged with enticing a 15-year-old girl. In that case, the judge wrote in a detention memo that the defendant, Seitu Sulayman Kokayi, “has had a substantial interest in terrorist acts.”

Reuters was unable to trace contact details for Kokayi.

But Joshua Stueve, a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office which filed the document that was unsealed, said: “The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing.”

Reuters was unable to reach Assange or his lawyers to seek comment.

Prosecutors sought to keep the charges confidential until after Assange’s arrest, the document shows, saying the move was essential to ensure he did not evade or avoid arrest and extradition.

Any procedure “short of sealing will not adequately protect the needs of law enforcement at this time because, due to the sophistication of the defendant, and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged,” the document reads.

It adds: “The complaint, supporting affidavit and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint.” – Reuters