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The indictment accusing Julian Assange of committing a criminal theft of US state secrets violates the fundamental freedoms of the press and could have a devastating effect on the basic activities of journalism, warned academics and journalists. defense groups.
Eastern District attorneys released Thursday an indictment of WikiLeaks' founder, sealed since March 2018, and will now form the basis of the US government's request. that Assange would be extradited from the United Kingdom to Alexandria to be tried.
Academics and activists have condemned much of the indictment, which they said went hand in hand with basic journalism activities protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. They said that these parts of the charge were ringing alarm alarms that should be pbaded around the world.
Yochai Benkler, a law professor at Harvard, who authored the first major legal study on the legal implications of prosecutions against WikiLeaks, said the indictment contained "very dangerous elements that pose a risk important for national security reporting. The articles in the indictment are extremely voluminous and could have a significant deterrent effect: they should be rejected. "
Carrie DeCell, a lawyer at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said the charges "could hurt journalism." She added that the tone of the indictment and the accompanying public publication of the Department of Justice suggested that the US government wanted precisely this effect.
"Many of the allegations are absolutely the protection of journalistic activity by the first amendment. It's very troubling for us.
Among the sentences contained in the indictment that caused an uproar include:
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"It was part of the plot that Assange and Manning took steps to hide Manning as the source of disclosure of clbadified material to WikiLeaks." The protection of anonymity of the sources is the cornerstone of many Investigation and National Security Reports Without these sources, not be willing to disclose information and the press would be unable to fulfill its accountability role.
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"This is part of the plot that Assange and Manning used the online chat service" Jabber "to collaborate on the acquisition and dissemination of clbadified recordings." The indictment also refers to a deposit box. Jabber and Dropbox are communication tools commonly used by journalists working with whistleblowers.
A key element of the indictment is a new allegation that Assange would actively help Manning attempt to decipher a pbadword allowing the US soldier to gain unauthorized and anonymous access to computers. extremely sensitive military. At the time, in 2010, Manning worked as an intelligence badyst in an advanced operations base outside Baghdad.
The press and speech freedom experts were generally more relaxed about this narrow accusation, in that it essentially accused Assange of violating the hacking laws – particularly the law on fraud and computer abuse – in a way that has not been changed beforehand. protection. If prosecutors succeed in submitting evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, it is unlikely that this will cause much opposition in all areas.
Bradley P Moss, deputy director of the James Madison Project, a public interest group specializing in US intelligence and national security, said he was not annoyed by the hacking charges. "I do not worry about the broader implications of press freedom, whether in the United States or elsewhere. What Julian Assange did is what journalists should not learn to do. "
But fears aroused by the deterrent effect of the prosecution were legion. The Center for Constitutional Rights, whose late president, Michael Ratner, was Assange's attorney in the United States, warned that the threat posed by the indictment was compounded by the fact that the president of the House -Blanche was hostile to the media.
"It is a worrying step on the slippery slope to punish all journalists that the Trump administration chooses to make fun of" false information, "" the text adds.
Two human rights groups working in the field of freedom of the press also took up residence. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists stated that the wording of the charges contained "broad legal arguments that journalists solicit information or interact with sources that may have terrifying consequences on investigations and reporting. information of public interest ".
The Foundation for Freedom of the Press said: "Whether you like Assange or not, the accusation against him is a serious threat to press freedom and should be vigorously protested by all who care about the first one. amendment."
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