Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Saturday June 27 2020, @06:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the wheels-of-'justice'-grinding-away dept.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/06/26/free-speech-in-the-us-empire-is-as-illusory-as-free-range-eggs/

In what Shadowproof‘s Kevin Gosztola calls “a not-so-subtle effort to criminalize the journalism of an adversarial media organization that the United States has spent the last decade working to destroy,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been hit with another superseding indictment [PDF] by the US Department of Justice.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-superseding-indictment

The new indictment does not add additional counts to the prior 18-count superseding indictment returned against Assange in May 2019. It does, however, broaden the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged. According to the charging document, Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to commit computer intrusions to benefit WikiLeaks.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/25/assa-j25.html

Significantly, none of the events was held in the United States, but are cited as evidence of intent, or conspiracy, to violate American laws. This is in line with the unprecedented assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction on which the entire indictment is based. The Justice Department is essentially arguing that domestic US laws apply to all individuals and gatherings in every part of the world.

Unlike the previous indictment, the latest US charge sheet condemns Assange over WikiLeaks’ role in assisting Edward Snowden to travel from Hong Kong to Russia in 2013, where he successfully obtained political asylum. Snowden is a multi-award winning whistleblower, who exposed illegal global surveillance operations by the US National Security Agency.

The document complains that WikiLeaks publicised its role in defending Snowden to display its commitment to whistleblower protection. This alone brands the new indictment as a further assault on fundamental journalistic practices.

A substantial part of the new material in the indictment appears to be based on testimony and information provided by two acknowledged informants of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Sigurdur “Siggi” Thordarson, named in the document as “Teenager,” and Hector Monsegur, known by the online pseudonym “Sabu.”


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday June 27 2020, @07:42AM (12 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Saturday June 27 2020, @07:42AM (#1013175)

    The Justice Department is essentially arguing that domestic US laws apply to all individuals and gatherings in every part of the world.

    Well at least there's a semblance of due process. That beats the US bombing civilians with drones in foreign countries any day.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Troll=1, Insightful=2, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday June 27 2020, @11:22AM (5 children)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday June 27 2020, @11:22AM (#1013200) Journal

    wonder how many meetings there were, discussing the ramifications of making a house in London into a smoking ruin?

    (They could have sold tickets to a WW2 reenactment site)

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @11:36AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @11:36AM (#1013203)

      Problem is that he's in an embassy -- otherwise there would have been an unfortunate explosion due to a "gas leak".

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @08:54PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @08:54PM (#1013375)

        Problem is that he's in an embassy -- otherwise there would have been an unfortunate explosion due to a "gas leak".

        Assange is, and has been, in an English gaol for more than a year. [aljazeera.com]

        Let me tell you how this is going to go.
        1. Eventually, Assange will be extradited to the US;
        2. After a lengthy stint in a Federal detention facility, he will go on trial;
        3. Assange will most likely be acquitted. If not, he'll likely receive a 2-4 year sentence;

        The above likely would have happened years ago if Assange hadn't hid out in the Ecuadorian Embassy for seven years, and Assange would long have been a free man.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @10:40PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @10:40PM (#1013443)

          You're an optimist. I doubt Assange will get anything but a kangaroo court.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 28 2020, @02:05AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 28 2020, @02:05AM (#1013519)

            I guess we'll just have to wait and see what actually happens.

    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday June 27 2020, @05:16PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday June 27 2020, @05:16PM (#1013305) Journal

      making a house in London into a smoking ruin

      Worked in Philly [wikipedia.org]... smoked a bunch of houses

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 27 2020, @02:43PM (3 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 27 2020, @02:43PM (#1013253) Journal

    Yes. The same semblance to due process that the 8 foot 400 pound man in a village of people who all weigh less than 150 pounds can claim when he beats hell out of his neighbors.

    I can't have any respect for any of this. The US sings the praises of freedom of the press, and here all the hypocrites in America join in to crucify a reporter who didn't ask permission to publish his stuff.

    It's like a feeding frenzy in a shark tank, or something equally primal.

    • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @03:02PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @03:02PM (#1013263)

      "Reporter". LOL. Thanks, a good laugh to start my day.

      He'll dump the stuff when the Russians give it to him. He'll dump stuff when he coordinates it with Trump because he hated Hillary. But for the stuff he acquired because he convinced some dupe who is stupid enough to think he has integrity, he drip-drip-drips it out to keep himself in the news.

      Just a simple narcissist getting his comeuppance by making deals with other narcissists who have now thrown him to the curb now that he is no longer useful to him.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 27 2020, @03:16PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 27 2020, @03:16PM (#1013271) Journal

        Interesting point of view. Maybe you should listen again to Don Henley's 'Dirty Laundry'. Most of those news hounds are psychotic in some way or another, and the system only makes them worse.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 28 2020, @10:07PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 28 2020, @10:07PM (#1013854)

        You're a moron.

        "Journalist" doesn't mean "good journalist." Muckrakers and op-ed writers and little league reporters are all journalists. They all enjoy freedom of the press, whether they publish concise and pithy articles or bloated incomprehensible rambles. You and I don't get to decide whether someone "dumping" data is doing good or bad reporting.

  • (Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Saturday June 27 2020, @02:48PM

    by Tokolosh (585) on Saturday June 27 2020, @02:48PM (#1013256)

    Due process:
    1. Make everything a crime, anywhere, anytime.
    2. Make thinking about a crime, a crime.
    3. Pick a crime useful to your purpose.
    4. Follow due process.
    5. Profit.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 28 2020, @10:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 28 2020, @10:03PM (#1013851)

    This "semblance of due process" is no semblance to such at all. Due process can only be in the jurisdiction in question, and Assange committed no USA-law-crime while in the USA.