WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told reporters Wednesday that the prosecution of Bradley Manning, the Pfc. suspected of supplying Assange’s whistlebower site with thousands of secret documents, should be a matter of grave concern for all journalists.
Speaking on a conference call with a number of other Manning supporters, Assange warned that the Obama administration’s interpretation of the Espionage Act, which Manning may be tried under, “will criminalize all investigative journalism.”
“It will erect a situation where collaboration between a source and a journalist is interpreted as a conspiracy to commit crime,” Assange said.
Although Assange claimed that Manning’s detainment has actually resulted in more people stepping forward to provide material for his site, he warned that a conviction could ultimately produce a chilling effect across all forms of investigative journalism.
Manning is currently facing over 22 charges, including aiding the enemy. Before being transferred to a mid-level security facility in Kansas’ Ft. Leavenworth in April, Manning was detained for nine months in a high-security bring on the Quantico Naval Base. There, a number of critics and human rights activists claim he may have been mistreated, charges that stem from reports that Manning was forced to strip naked out of security concerns harassment from the brig’s staff.
Daniel Ellsberg, a former member of the RAND Corporation famous for leaking the Pentagon Papers, documents relating to the Vietnam war, to the media in the 1970s, spoke out against Manning’s treatment on Thursday’s call, arguing that all charges should be dropped since Manning’s treatment constituted “gross governmental misconduct.”
Ellsberg added that he didn’t believe Manning violated the Espionage Act, explaining that leaking documents is not specifically covered under the law.
Assange noted Thursday that the U.S. government wasn’t the only entity he viewed as doing Manning a disservice. He also laid blame, with several exceptions, on the press at-large, describing their coverage of the Manning situation as “appalling and salacious.”
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