WikiLeaks: US Government Admits No One Was Physically Harmed Due To Publications On First Day of Extradition Trial

Julian Assange’s lawyers are in court today in Great Britain.

WikiLeaks says the US government confirmed that there are no known cases of anyone being harmed by their publications on the first day of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing on Monday.

The Pentagon previously testified that no one was harmed by the release during the trial of Chelsea Manning in 2013.

“All that the US government QC, James Lewis, could muster was that there might be a ‘risk’ of harm…but no actual harm occurred,” a press release from WikiLeaks pointed out. “To try and bolster this flimsy claim the US government argued that Wikileaks material was read by enemies of the United States. Yet this could be true of any story critical of government, and certainly true of any material revealed by a whistleblower.”

The US government had attempted to charge Manning with aiding in the enemy during their trial, but the whistleblower was found not guilty on that count.

“What is however certain is that WikiLeaks has repeatedly revealed war crimes committed by the US government which did indeed cause harm. Not the ‘risk’ of harm but the actually maiming and killing of innocent citizens,” the WikiLeaks press release continued. “The US government then went on to make the untrue claim that Wikileaks released unredacted material…an accusation previously refuted by Wikileaks.”

#RSF urges the UK government to prioritise the principles of freedom of expression and the defence of journalism in its treatment of Assange, and to act in accordance with UK law and the country’s international human rights obligations. #FreeAssange pic.twitter.com/7DpzqpghlB

— RSF (@RSF_inter) February 24, 2020

The trial over extraditing Assange to the United States is currently taking place at the Woolwich Magistrates Court in London. He faces charges under the Espionage Act in the United States for his publication of the Iraq and Afghan War Logs. If extradited and convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 175 years for the “crime” of publishing material that the US government did not want the public to know.

Protesters outside were so loud that Assange had to ask for them to quiet down so he could hear the case against him.