Julian Assange faces 17 new criminal charges

By Staff Writer | 24 May 2019 at 08:23hrs
Assange
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange faces 17 new criminal charges, including violating the US Espionage Act.

Assange is accused of publishing classified US information which was obtained by former US Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning.

According to the US Justice Department, Assange "aided and abetted her in obtaining classified information with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation."

The indictment also accuses Assange of receiving classified information from Manning, including "approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables."

If convicted, Assange faces a maximum of 10 years in prison per charge, with the exception of his "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" charge, for which he faces up to five years in prison.

However, the indictment said that actual sentences are usually less than the maximum penalty.

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