THE GUARDIAN: Legal team for WikiLeaks founder says Washington may be planning to invoke Espionage Act to indict their client
Lawyers acting for Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said today they are preparing for a possible indictment by the US authorities.
Jennifer Robinson said her team had heard from "several different US lawyers rumours that an indictment was on its way or had happened already, but we don't know".
According to some reports, Washington is seeking to prosecute Assange under the 1917 act, which was used unsuccessfully to try to gag the New York Times when it published the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s. However, despite escalating rhetoric over the last fortnight, no charges have yet been lodged, and government sources say they are unaware any such move is being prepared.
Robinson said Assange's team did not believe the US had grounds to prosecute him but understood that Washington was "looking closely at other charges, such as computer charges, so we have one eye on it". >>> Steven Morris | Friday, December 10, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks: Julian Assange ‘could face spying charges’ >>> Nick Squires | Friday, December 10, 2010
