BLOG POST #12

The Julian Assange Battle

You've probably heard of the name Julian Assange by now and how he was recently arrested by the U.K. authorities in the Ecuadorian Embassy where he spent his prior 2,488 days of asylum. So, why is this so important and why should we be paying attention to this? Well that's because the government's indictment of Assange poses a clear and present danger to journalism, the freedom of the press, and the freedom of speech.

Julian Assange is 47 years old and the founder of WikiLeaks. Since 2010, the U.S. government has been determined to indict him after he published hundreds of thousands of war logs and diplomatic cables revealing numerous war crimes and other acts of corruption by the U.S., U.K., and other governments worldwide. Most significantly, he helped whistleblower Chelsea Manning get a video out to the public. The video, called the collateral murder video, showed an airstrike in Baghdad on July 2007 on unarmed civilians. Obviously this was very wrong and the public needed to know. However, Manning paid the price serving seven and a half years in prison. 

This is the collateral murder video: viewer discretion is advised 

Photo of Chelsea Manning

There is a consistent pattern of the U.S. government trying to squash whistleblowers. The Department of Justice has been attempting to indict Assange using the misinformation that he tried to help Manning obtain access to document databases to which she had no valid access too. In other word, hacking instead of journalism. What really happened was that Assange helped Manning log into the Defense Department's computers using a different username so she could maintain anonymity while downloading documents in the public interest and then give them to WikiLeaks to publish. 

So, now do you see why this indictment is so important? It basically seeks to criminalize journalists for what they are permitted to do and ethically required to do. Journalists have a responsibility to help their sources maintain anonymity if that is what they wish. Otherwise, who would would step up and talk if there was this fear of being punished for speaking out on wrongdoings like Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange.  

“The factual allegations … boil down to encouraging a source to provide him information and taking efforts to protect the identity of that source. Journalists around the world should be deeply troubled by these unprecedented criminal charges.” -Barry Pollack (Assange's lawyer)

Photo taken of Julian Assange after he was taken from the Ecuadorian Embassy

Julian Assange's battle is a lot bigger than you'd think. Without whistleblowers, we would not have a democracy. The indictment brought upon him poses a grave threat to the freedom of press because the government is going through extensive steps just to silence him and others who reveal their wrongdoings. I mean he was forcibly taken from his place of asylum and thrown into Belmarsh Prison, one of the most secure facilities in England and Wales. I mean this place is no joke, this prison holds some of Britain's most notorious terror suspects. So, why is a journalist being kept here? Doesn't that seem a bit extreme given the circumstances? This will be a monumental trial and one that shouldn't be taken lightly. New precedents could be set that could either benefit freedom of the press and speech or further limit it. The whole world will be watching for what's next.