New US Indictment Alleges WikiLeaks’ Assange Conspired With Anonymous, Affiliated Hacker Groups

A US federal grand jury has issued a second superseding indictment against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange. While the indictment adds no new charges, it expands the scope of existing ones, alleging he conspired with Anonymous and other hacker groups.

According to a US Department of Justice news release, the new accusations “broaden the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged. According to the charging document, Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to commit computer intrusions to benefit WikiLeaks.”

The indictment notes that during speaking tours, Assange actively encouraged other hackers to break into classified systems, including issuing a “Most Wanted Leaks” list. According to the charges, when former US Army analyst Chelsea Manning found the damning classified documents she later leaked via WikiLeaks, she directed her search according to the kinds of leaks WikiLeaks said it wanted.

Manning was held in contempt of the same grand jury by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, resulting in her detention for nearly a year and the accumulation of $256,000 in putative fines in an attempt to compel her to cooperate in their investigation of Assange. She was released in March 2020 after attempting suicide.

Assange has been detained in the United Kingdom since April 2019 after the Ecuadorean Embassy in London deemed him persona non grata and allowed the Metropolian Police Service to arrest him for a 2012 bail violation. The US DoJ subsequently indicted Assange on 18 counts under the 1917 Espionage Act, charges that could land the 48-year-old Australian in jail for more than 170 years.

Sourse: sputniknews.com