How is wikileaks legal

A Christian Science Perspective. Monitor Movie Guide. Monitor Daily. Photos of the Week. Some US government warning have suggested that a federal employee would be breaking the law by reading one of these newspapers reporting on classified State Department documents published on the WikiLeaks website.

The photo was taken Nov. You've read of free articles. Subscribe to continue. Mark Sappenfield. Our work isn't possible without your support. Digital subscription includes: Unlimited access to CSMonitor. In particular, the court rejected all of Mr. We will continue to seek Mr. Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one chard of computer hacking over the publication of secret military documents on WikiLeaks.

The case is the first time in U. Assange has been kept in a high-security prison in London since April , and could face a year prison sentence if convicted in the U. The judge in the extradition hearing said that she would announce her decision on January 4, Lawyers representing the U. Representing the U. Edward Fitzgerald QC, the lawyer defending Assange, argued that his client was not to blame because he merely published documents given to him by former intelligence officer Chelsea Manning.

BBC News. May 23, New count indictment accuses Assange of violating the Espionage Act. Assange is accused of violating the Espionage Act by helping former U. Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning hack into a government database, and then disclosing the stolen information on WikiLeaks. While Assange is not a traditional journalist, he nonetheless engages in the types of activities that reporters routinely do, such as receiving documents and informations from sources and publishing it.

Legal experts contend that the charges facing Assange are likely to be challenged on First Amendment grounds. Manning, a former U. Army intelligence officer, has been in jail since March 8 for refusing to testify before a grand jury about WikiLeaks.

BuzzFeed News contends that since Manning will remain in jail for not cooperating with the government, it is likely that federal prosecutors are still investigating Assange and could bring additional charges. WikiLeaks publishes documents of political or historical importance that are censored or otherwise suppressed.

We specialise in strategic global publishing and large archives. The following is the address of our secure site where you can anonymously upload your documents to WikiLeaks editors. You can only access this submissions system through Tor. See our Tor tab for more information. We also advise you to read our tips for sources before submitting. If you cannot use Tor, or your submission is very large, or you have specific requirements, WikiLeaks provides several alternative methods.

Contact us to discuss how to proceed. This policy is intended to implement the procedures set forth in 17 U. You will then be provided with contact details for the Wikileaks Agent:. Failure to include all of the above information may result in a delay of the processing of the DMCA notification. Wikileaks USA may not be able to remove infringing works without the co-operation of its sister organizations in other jurisdictions. The United States government is starting a legal appeal to try to get the Wikileaks founder extradited.

In January, a court ruled Mr Assange could not be extradited to the US due to concerns over his mental health. Mr Assange is wanted over the publication of thousands of classified documents in and The documents revealed how the US military had killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents during the war in Afghanistan, while leaked Iraq war files showed the 66, civilians had been killed and prisoners tortured by Iraqi forces.

The US says the leaks broke the law and endangered lives, but Mr Assange says the case is politically motivated. His lawyer told the court that the risk of suicide would be "imminent the moment extradition becomes likely". In January, the district judge overseeing the US's extradition appeal, Vanessa Baraitser, said Mr Assange's publication of classified military and government documents arguably amounted to a crime. But he could not be transferred to the US because he was unwell and could take his own life.

He said Mr Assange's psychiatrist had misled the earlier judge and the US had not been given an opportunity to answer her concerns. Mr Assange, 50, is wanted in the US on allegations of a conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following Wikileaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The publications include the release in April of footage showing US soldiers shooting and killing civilians from a helicopter in Iraq.