The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: media@aclu.org

ACLU Comment on Julian Assange Arrest

London authorities today arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in relation to an extradition warrant on behalf of U.S. authorities.

Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued the following comment in response:

WASHINGTON

London authorities today arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in relation to an extradition warrant on behalf of U.S. authorities.

Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued the following comment in response:

"Any prosecution by the United States of Mr. Assange for Wikileaks' publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations. Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating U.S. secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for U.S. journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest."

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

(212) 549-2666