In 2010, the whistleblowing web site WikiLeaks revealed tons of of 1000’s of paperwork from US diplomatic and army missions all over the world. Probably the most putting had been the publications on army operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. These generally revealed unsavory practices. For instance, video footage confirmed American troopers firing on unarmed Iraqi civilians.
All of it concerned confidential – and due to this fact secret – paperwork. The US was livid: WikiLeaks was endangering the lives of American informants with its publication, it stated. The US stated it was the worst leak of confidential diplomatic and army information within the nation’s historical past.
Disclosing confidential info is a severe crime within the US. The US courtroom prosecuted Julian Assange, the Australian founding father of WikiLeaks, on 18 prices, together with espionage and conspiracy. Assange confronted as much as 175 years in jail if he had been arrested and extradited.
Assange had no everlasting residence at the moment, to keep away from falling into the arms of American safety companies. From 2012, Assange was hiding within the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK. Ecuador had granted him asylum.
In 2019, Ecuador revoked that asylum standing. Assange was arrested and transferred to Belmarsh most safety jail. He was caught there till yesterday.
