WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange faces 17 additional criminal charges in violation of Espionage Act

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Julian Assange WkiLeaks Founder AP Photo
Credits: Associated Press (AP)/Matt Dunham

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange is facing 17 additional criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to obtain and publish classified information—a violation of the Espionage Act.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a federal grand jury returned an 18-count superseding indictment against Assange. The DOJ previously charged the WikiLeaks Founder with only one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion to access or obtain information from a U.S. department and agency.

The 17 additional Espionage Act violations are connected to Assange’s complicity with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who illegally obtained and disclosed classified documents.

The superseding indictment alleged that Assange published on WikiLeaks the classified documents containing the un-redacted names of human resources who provided information to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to U.S. State Department diplomats around the world.

Assange actions endangered the lives of the human resources, which included local Afghans, Iraqis, human rights activists, journalists, religious leaders and political dissidents from repressive regimes. His actions also risked serious damage to the U.S. national security.

DOJ asserts that Assange is not a journalist

In a statement, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, said the DOJ’s indictment alleged that Assange “created grave and imminent risk” to [the] lives and liberty of the people whose names were included in the classified documents that he leaked.