By Ben Kerrigan
Julian Assange “put lives at risk” by disseminating classified materials through WikiLeaks, a lawyer representing the US has said on the first day of extradition hearings.
Mr Assange is wanted in the US to face trial for 18 charges of conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. High among the list of charges against him is the allegation of conspiring with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack a computer at the Pentagon and access a trove of secret documents and military files on Iraq and Afghanistan.
His journalistic endeavours was dismissed by prosecutors as inexcusable for criminal acts which the Wikilleaks founder is accused of.
In his opening statement, James Lewis told Woolwich Crown Court the actions of Assange had helped to identify informants that had aided the US in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.The US case was opened on Monday at Woolwich crown court in south-east London by James Lewis QC, who said that by disseminating material in an unredacted form Assange knowingly put human rights activists, dissidents, journalists and their families at risk of serious harm in states operated by oppressive regimes.
“The defence seek to suggest that the risk to these individuals who, by having the individuals revealed as informants, is somehow overstated. I would remind the court that these were individuals who were passing on information on regimes such as Iran and organisations such as al-Qaida.
It put those revealed in the report at “risk of serious harm, torture, or even death,” he said.Mr Lewis also told the court that journalism was “not an excuse for criminal activities or a licence to break ordinary criminal laws”.He added: “This is true in the UK as it is in the USA, and indeed in any civilised country in the world.”Assange, 48, is wanted in the US to face 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act. They relate to the publication a decade ago of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and files covering areas including US activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. He could face a 175-year prison sentence if found guilty