Julian Assange’s lawyers tell London’s High Court that case is politically motivated (Documents)
London:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being prosecuted for publishing the names of sources rather than his political views, lawyers representing the United States said on Wednesday, as the WikiLeaks founder fights to block his extradition from Britain.
U.S. prosecutors are seeking to put 52-year-old Julian Assange on trial over the high-profile leak of a trove of classified U.S. military records and diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.
They believe the leak endangered their agent’s life and there is no excuse for his criminal conduct. Julian Assange’s supporters, however, hailed him as a journalist and a hero who was persecuted for exposing American wrongdoing.
Julian Assange’s lawyers told London’s High Court on Tuesday that the case was politically motivated, saying he was targeted for exposing “state-level crimes” and that former US President Donald Trump had asked for information on how “Detailed options” to kill him.
But on Wednesday, U.S. lawyers said the prosecution of Assange was “based on the rule of law and evidence.”
Claire Dobbin told the court: “The appellant’s prosecution may have been unprecedented, but what he did was unprecedented.”
Claire Dobbin said Julian Assange “indiscriminately and deliberately released to the world the names of individuals who acted as sources of information for the United States.”
“It’s these facts that set him apart, not his political views,” she added.
Claire Dobbin also responded to Julian Assange’s lawyers claiming that the United States planned to kidnap or murder Julian Assange while he was in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Yahoo News reported in 2021.
She said the United States had given assurances on how to treat Julian Assange and “completely undermined that advice…anything could happen to him.”
Assange is not an “ordinary journalist”
Dobbin argued that the material published by WikiLeaks was obtained by encouraging people to steal documents and contained unredacted names of U.S. sources.
As a result, Julian Assange cannot be “considered akin to an ordinary journalist or WikiLeaks to an ordinary publisher,” she said.
Julian Assange himself again did not appear in court on Wednesday or observe remotely because he was unwell, his lawyers and wife Stella Assange said.
The Australian’s legal battle began in 2010 and he spent seven years hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy before being hauled out and jailed in 2019 for breaching bail conditions.
He has since been held in a high-security prison in London and even got married there, before Britain eventually approved his extradition to the United States in 2022.
Julian Assange’s lawyers say he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison, but it’s likely to be at least 30 to 40 years. U.S. prosecutors said that would not exceed 63 months.
If Julian Assange wins the case, a full appeal hearing will be held. If he loses, his only remaining option is to take action to the European Court of Human Rights, and his wife said his lawyers would seek an emergency injunction from European judges if necessary.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
