Julian Assange’s lawyers are negotiating with the US government
“The US Justice Department is considering whether to allow Julian Assange to plead guilty to the lesser crime of mishandling classified information,” reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing unnamed people in the know. The ventilated deal: Assange pleads guilty and the remaining charges are dropped. However, Assange’s lawyers have no indication that the Justice Department is actually willing to do so.
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The USA published an espionage indictment against Assange around five years ago, under US President Donald Trump. However, the Australian is not accused of having spied himself. The main objection to the prosecution is that Assange received secret information (including from then US soldier Bradley Manning) and published it on Wikileaks. Parts of it were secret information that US authorities themselves had received from citizens of other countries. The US government was particularly disgraced by a video that showed US soldiers shooting civilians and journalists from an attack helicopter for no reason. Assange faces a total of 175 years in prison – “like a death in installments,” says German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Show trial
With the indictment, the US Attorney’s Office is entering new legal territory; The incriminated behavior of disseminating previously unpublic information is one of the core tasks of journalists. According to US media reports, the US government under Barack Obama refused to charge Assange under the Espionage Act precisely because it would be an attack on press freedom.
In 2020, the then UN special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, described the US legal approach as a show trial. Melzer recognized a “constructed rape”, manipulated evidence and biased judges. A “murderous system” is at work to make an example of Assange and intimidate other journalists.
Already 5 years in custody for extradition
According to the WSJ, Assange’s lawyers have had preliminary discussions with US Justice Department officials about a possible deal in recent months. Mishandling of classified information covers a number of criminal offenses that carry less draconian penalties than espionage, for which Assange is charged. This also includes offenses that are punishable by a maximum of twelve months in prison, so-called misdemeanors (mere misdemeanors).
Assange has been in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019. He had previously holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy for years to avoid extradition to Sweden. There he was investigated for rape. Assange always emphasized that the allegations in Sweden were just a pretext to arrest him and extradite him to the USA. In fact, Sweden has long since stopped investigating Assange.
But when a new government came to power in Ecuador, it kicked Assange out in London, where he was promptly arrested for evading British justice. A little later, the USA published its indictment against Assange and requested his extradition. Britain soon approved the request to extradite Assange. Since then, Assange has been fighting extradition in court, but so far he has not achieved any breakthrough.
Are there serious negotiations?
Assange, his lawyers suggested, would plead guilty from prison in London and would not have to be transferred to the USA. The time in custody awaiting extradition would be credited to the following prison sentence, which would mean that Assange would soon be released once the sentence was determined. Britain would then probably deport the man to his home country of Australia.
There are no signs that this is actually happening. “The discussions are in flux, the talks could fizzle out,” writes the US newspaper, adding: “Any deal would have to be approved at the highest levels of the U.S. Department of Justice.” This would not only have diplomatic but also domestic political side effects.
On the other hand, there is international pressure on the US government to release Assange. Late, but at the beginning of March, Chancellor Scholz finally decided to oppose the extradition of Julian Assange to the USA. Until then there was little support for the Australian from the German government. It cannot be ruled out that the spread of a possible agreement including release is a PR maneuver to relieve pressure until it is too late.
That could be the case soon. Because Assange has actually already exhausted the legal recourse against his extradition. A hearing in February should determine whether he can appeal again. The decision on this is expected in the coming weeks.
The US criminal procedure is called USA v Julian Paul Assange and is pending in the United States District Court for Eastern Virginia under case number 1:18-cr-00111.
Indictment USA v Julian Paul Assange
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