RSF Reiterates Call For Charges Against Julian Assange To Be Dropped As US Issues New Indictment – Scoop.co.nz

Thursday, 2 July 2020, 7:25 amPress Release: Reporters Without Borders

vvvReporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the USDepartment of Justices issuing of a new supersedingindictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange - thelatest in a long series of US government attempts tomanipulate legal loopholes and undermine Assangesdefense. RSF calls again for all charges against Assange tobe dropped and for him to be immediately released.

On24 June, the US Department of Justice filed a new supersedingindictment against Assange, broadening the scope ofthe conspiracy claimed in the hacking allegations againsthim. Assange had previously been indicted on 17counts under the Espionage Act and one charge under theComputer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA); the new supersedingindictment did not add new charges, but expands the scope ofthe CFAA charge and changes the evidential basis of some ofthe other charges against him.

Such a move is highlyunusual at this late stage in an extradition case, which hadproceeded on the basis of the 18-count indictmentissued by the US Department of Justice in May 2019.Assanges US extradition hearing began in February 2020 atthe Woolwich Crown Court in London; RSF monitored the firstweek of proceedings and expressedconcern regarding the US governments lack of evidencefor its charges against Assange. RSF believes Assange hasbeen targeted for his contributions to public interestreporting and that his prosecution has serious implicationsfor journalism and press freedominternationally.

The supersedingindictment is the latest in a long series of moves by the USgovernment to manipulate legal loopholes in their targetingof Julian Assange, to undermine his defense, and to divertpublic attention from the extremely serious press freedomimplications of his case. This never-ending persecutionsimply has to stop. We call again for all charges against MrAssange to be dropped and for him to be immediatelyreleased, said RSF Director of International CampaignsRebecca Vincent.

In an administrativehearing at the Westminster Magistrates Court on 29 June,Assanges lawyer Mark Summers expressed surprise over thetiming of the superseding indictment, as well as the factthat the defense team had learned about it through thepress. The indictment had not yet been sent to Assangeslawyers or the court, and had not been formally entered intothe UK proceedings.

The defense stated that theywanted the US extradition hearing to continue as planned;the full hearing is scheduled to resume from 7 September,when three weeks of evidence are expected to be heard.Assanges next callover hearing is scheduled for 27July.

Assange continues to be held at the highsecurity Belmarsh prison, where he remains at risk ofexposure to Covid-19 - a risk exacerbated by his underlyinghealth concerns, adding urgency to the need for hisimmediate release. He has been unableto participate remotely in administrative courtproceedings for several months, reportedly feeling unwelland having been advised by his doctors that it was unsafefor him to access the prisons video conferencingfacilities.

The UK and US are respectively ranked 33rdand 45th out of 180 countries in RSFs 2020World Press FreedomIndex.

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RSF Reiterates Call For Charges Against Julian Assange To Be Dropped As US Issues New Indictment - Scoop.co.nz