WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Takes Additional Prosecution For Conspiracy With Hackers Related To Anonymous

by Espen Moe

On June 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had prosecuted Julian Assange , the founder of the accusation site ' WikiLeaks, ' for conspiring with hackers.

WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Superseding Indictment | OPA | Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-superseding-indictment

Justice Department announces superseding indictment against Wikileaks' Assange | The Hill
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/504434-justice-department-announces-superseding-indictment-against-wikileaks

Julian Assange, who has founded WikiLeaks and exposed many secrets, has lived in exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012, accused of sexual assault. Assange, who had been in the Ecuadorian embassy for almost seven years, was arrested by British police on April 11, 2019 and has been imprisoned in Bellmarsh Prison in London ever since.

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who has exposed a lot of confidential information, is arrested-GIGAZINE

In a statement on the prosecution of Assange, the US Department of Justice said, 'In 2012, Assange contacted directly with the leader of the hacker group'LulzSec ', which had been split from Anonymous, and provided LulzSec with a list of hacking targets. Assange also urged LulzSec leaders to hand over the targeted emails and documents to WikiLeaks, and hackers testified that Assange indirectly asked the targets to send spam emails.' It was.

Although the new prosecution is not a new addition to the 18 charges that Assange has already been prosecuted, it 'expands the scope of conspiracy charges for hacking PCs,' he said.

The Ministry of Justice also added, ``If Assange is convicted, he will be sentenced to 10 years in prison, which is the highest sentence for each offense, except for hacking a PC that could result in up to 5 years in prison. You will face it.” It is uncertain how the increase in the range of alleged hacks against PCs due to this prosecution will affect the punishment that Assange will face.

``The Trump administration's attempt at the Justice Department to imprison Julian Assange has been on the table since 2016,'' said journalist Glenn Greenwald on Twitter. Is one of the most serious threats to press freedom.'

The Trump DOJ's attempt to imprison Julian Assange for working with his source to publish classified documents that exposed US war crimes is the most severe US threat to press freedom since 2016.It's sickening to watch so many journalists ignore it, & so many liberals cheer it : https://t.co/bF9QaK4Y7l

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 24, 2020

Assange's lawyer, Barry Polak, responded to an interview with The New York Times by saying, 'We will review the indictment before we comment.'