LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being prosecuted for publishing sources’ names and never his political beliefs, legal professionals representing the US stated on Wednesday (Feb 21) as Assange fights to cease his extradition from Britain.
US prosecutors are searching for to place Assange, 52, on trial over WikiLeaks’ high-profile launch of huge troves of confidential US navy information and diplomatic cables.
They argue the leaks imperilled the lives of their brokers and there’s no excuse for his criminality. Assange’s supporters, nevertheless, hail him as a journalist and a hero who’s being persecuted for exposing US wrongdoing.
Assange’s legal professionals informed London’s Excessive Court docket on Tuesday that the case was politically motivated, arguing Assange was focused for his publicity of “state-level crimes” and that Donald Trump had requested “detailed choices” on how one can kill him.
However, on Wednesday, legal professionals for the US stated Assange’s prosecution was “based mostly on the rule of legislation and proof”.
Clair Dobbin informed the courtroom: “The appellant’s prosecution is likely to be unprecedented, however what he did was unprecedented.”
Assange “indiscriminately and knowingly revealed to the world the names of people who acted as sources of data to the US”, she stated.
“It’s these core information which distinguish the place of the appellant from the New York Occasions and different media retailers,” Dobbin added.
“It’s this which kinds the target foundation for his prosecution. It’s these information which distinguish him, not his political beliefs.”
