14 DAY TRIAL // Documents released by the US Air Force in response to a freedom of information (FOI) request reveal that members of the military caught collaborating with whistleblower site WikiLeaks can be accused of “communicating with the enemy.”
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the FOI documents unveiled the case of a cyber systems analyst based in the UK, investigated by the US Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations.
Authorities suspected that the analyst – who had top-secret security clearance – might have provided WikiLeaks supporters with classified information. The expert denied leaking any information and the charges were dropped after his access to classified information was suspended.
However, the accusations referenced article 104-D from the US Uniform Code of Military Justice which clearly prohibits military personnel from communicating or corresponding with the enemy.
So, if the analyst was accused of “communicating with the enemy” when being suspected of leaking information to WikiLeaks, it means that the US is actually appointing Julian Assange and the whistleblower site as enemies, the same as it is doing with al-Qaeda.
Assange’s US attorney, Michael Ratner, highlights the fact that enemies of the state “are dealt with under the laws of war, which could include killing, capturing, detaining without trial, etc.”
Currently, WikiLeaks’ founder is still in Ecuador’s embassy in London. The country granted him diplomatic asylum, but UK authorities don’t seem to be too willing to let him go to Ecuador.
If he is extradited to Sweden, Assange will have to face [adult] assault allegations. However, an extradition to the US could be far worse, especially now that it has become clear that he’s an “enemy.”
It’s uncertain when he officially became an enemy, but back in 2010, the Vice President of the United States was already calling him a “high-tech terrorist. ”