HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is an Assault on the First Amendment

Views: 996
Though journalists tend to despise the WikiLeaks founder, his fate could impact the future of their profession.

Full text and links here: https://reason.com/video/2020/12/15/the-prosecution-of-julian-assange-is-an-assault-on-the-first-amendment/
------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------
Some establishment journalists in the U.S. consider Julian Assange to be a criminal whose work doesn't fit into the same category as their own.

In April 2019, police dragged the WikiLeaks founder out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he'd lived for seven years after the U.S. government indicted him for allegedly helping Chelsea Manning access government databases. The New York Times editorial board applauded the move, writing that it "could help draw a sharp line between legitimate journalism and dangerous cybercrime," and that, "The Trump administration has begun well by charging Mr. Assange with an indisputable crime."

"Julian Assange is not a free-press hero," The Washington Post editorial board opined, "And he is long overdue for personal accountability."

Then in May 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a second set of charges against Assange that, if they were to result in a conviction, could set a dangerous legal precedent that would put all investigative journalists who expose state secrets at risk of going to prison. Whether the media considers Assange one of their own, his fate could have a profound impact on the future of their profession.

The DOJ charged Assange with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by publishing the information leaked by Chelsea Manning. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.

The years of confinement have taken a toll on his mental and physical health. In 2018, doctors determined that Assange's condition was deteriorating after years of confinement and asked that he be allowed safe passage to a hospital. That request was denied.

In 2019, Nils Melzer, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, described the conditions Assange has been subjected to as "psychological torture."

Assange says his guiding principle has been to grant regular citizens access to the information that powerful governments, corporations, and media gatekeepers wanted nobody to see.

"Someone's right to speak and someone's right to know create a right to communicate," Assange told Democracy Now journalist Amy Goodman at the Frontline Club in July 2011. "That is the grounding structure for all that we treasure about civilized life."

Assange remains in a London prison, confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, according to WikiLeaks Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson.

He's awaiting a ruling from the British extradition court, which is scheduled for January 4. Government whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden, Daniel Ellsberg, John Kiriakou, and William Binney, along with more than 7,600 co-signers to an open letter, have called for Trump to drop all charges.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Opening graphic by Lex Villena

Photos: Tolga Akmen/ZUMA Press/Newscom; JAE/WENN/Newscom; Ray Tang/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Mark Chew/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Dinendra Haria/ZUMA Press/Newscom; MAAA/ZDS/Wheatley/WENN/Newscom; Ole Spata/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom; Andrew Parsons/i-Images / Polaris/Newscom; Dominic Lipinski/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Richard Ellis/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; John Barrett/PHOTOlink.net PHOTOlink/Newscom; Mark Makela/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; GARY CAMERON/Reuters/Newscom; Michal Fludra/ZUMA Press/Newscom; National News/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Euan Cherry/Photoshot/Newscom; Simon Webster/Atlas Photo Archive/Photoshot/Newscom;  Victoria Jones/ZUMA Press/Newscom; News Licensing / MEGA / Newscom; tHuman Rights Watch/EyePress EPN/Newscom; DDAA/ZOB/WENN/Newscom; Chris Winter/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Andrew Parsons/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Jay Shaw Baker/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Steve Maisey/Photoshot/Newscom.

Music: "Reel," Melancholy," "Singularity," "Days Pass," and "Fall" by ANBR licensed through Artlist.io.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Frederick Douglass vs. the 1619 Project5:33
Frederick Douglass vs. the 1619 Project
ReasonVids
958 views
Thumbnail for California driving2:13
California driving
bestofvoatxyz
2198 views
Thumbnail for Mary Poppins Quits: The Rebuttal (w/ Remy)1:21
Mary Poppins Quits: The Rebuttal (w/ Remy)
ReasonVids
970 views
Thumbnail for Watch California Cops Steal Every Penny from an Innocent Family3:56
Watch California Cops Steal Every Penny from an Innocent Family
Lilchowmein
1620 views
Thumbnail for Operation Choke Point: The Government's Covert War on Small Business8:49
Operation Choke Point: The Government's Covert War on Small Business
ReasonVids
869 views
Thumbnail for We’re Supposed to Fight… Robots now? | Sensei Seth Reacts10:52
We’re Supposed to Fight… Robots now? | Sensei Seth Reacts
invidious
320 views
Thumbnail for I will sign a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 States0:16
I will sign a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 States
AOUisgay
486 views
Thumbnail for Half-baked: Gov't Restricts Homemade Cookie Sales1:54
Half-baked: Gov't Restricts Homemade Cookie Sales
IJvids
906 views
Thumbnail for Carl Hart: Columbia Professor, Loving Father, Responsible Heroin User1:20:03
Carl Hart: Columbia Professor, Loving Father, Responsible Heroin User
ReasonVids
638 views
Thumbnail for 'Medicare Is a Bank Without Security Guards:' Media Exec David Goldhill vs. Princeton's Paul Starr1:21:45
'Medicare Is a Bank Without Security Guards:' Media Exec David Goldhill vs. Princeton's Paul Starr
ReasonVids
761 views
Thumbnail for US Spy Operation That Manipulates Social Media Revealed1:00
US Spy Operation That Manipulates Social Media Revealed
bestofsaidit
958 views
Thumbnail for 3 Reasons the US MILITARY Should NOT Fight Ebola2:08
3 Reasons the US MILITARY Should NOT Fight Ebola
ReasonVids
949 views
Thumbnail for Lisa's class watches movies "Sand" and "The Moon of Earth" | mrant272:01
Lisa's class watches movies "Sand" and "The Moon of Earth" | mrant27
invidious
332 views
Thumbnail for Why We Still Like Ike: Biographer Jim Newton on Dwight Eisenhower's Underrated Presidency10:56
Why We Still Like Ike: Biographer Jim Newton on Dwight Eisenhower's Underrated Presidency
ReasonVids
869 views
Thumbnail for "Don't Let My Daughter Die, Governor!": Chris Christie vs. Medical Marijuana4:16
"Don't Let My Daughter Die, Governor!": Chris Christie vs. Medical Marijuana
ReasonVids
1000 views
Thumbnail for Horribly confronting video of dying man, handcuffed by NSW Police10:30
Horribly confronting video of dying man, handcuffed by NSW Police
AOU
1119 views
Thumbnail for Shitskin mural defaced KEK1:48
Shitskin mural defaced KEK
voatcatbox
478 views
Thumbnail for After seeing this, I don’t blame Hasan Piker for pussying out of the Sam Hyde fight tbh0:33
After seeing this, I don’t blame Hasan Piker for pussying out of the Sam Hyde fight tbh
bestofpoal
1829 views
Thumbnail for Dilbert Creator Scott Adams on Donald Trump's "Linguistic Kill Shots"8:00
Dilbert Creator Scott Adams on Donald Trump's "Linguistic Kill Shots"
ReasonVids
1052 views
Thumbnail for Happy Halloween! || Fan Projects, Minecraft | Pipkin Pippa Ch.【Phase Connect】3:52:25
Happy Halloween! || Fan Projects, Minecraft | Pipkin Pippa Ch.【Phase Connect】
invidious
478 views
Thumbnail for Give me your tired, your poor, your retard masses0:25
Give me your tired, your poor, your retard masses
bestofupgoat
188 views
Thumbnail for COVID Exposed the Truth About the CDC9:58
COVID Exposed the Truth About the CDC
ReasonVids
939 views
Thumbnail for Why Facebook ‘Welcomes’ Regulation: Mark Zuckerberg vs. Silicon Valley’s Richard Hendricks3:18
Why Facebook ‘Welcomes’ Regulation: Mark Zuckerberg vs. Silicon Valley’s Richard Hendricks
ReasonVids
900 views
Thumbnail for Liberland: A New Nation Founded on 'Love and Freedom'2:36
Liberland: A New Nation Founded on 'Love and Freedom'
ReasonVids
877 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv

Linking Here:

https://voat.xyz/v/all
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle