Countdown To Day X: Applying The US Espionage Act To Assange

A 10-part series building up to a pivotal hearing that may be WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's last best hope to prevent extradition to the United States

Editor’s Note: Ahead of a major appeal hearing before the British High Court of Justice on February 20 and 21, the “Countdown To Day X” series will highlight key aspects of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to the United States.

Under Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights, extradition is not supposed to be extended to anyone who the requesting state is seeking to find guilty of a criminal offense that was not a “criminal offense under national or international law at the time when it was committed.”

The Espionage Act charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange represent the first time that a publisher has been charged by the United States government with violating the law.

In the past two decades, the 1917 law was typically applied to U.S. government employees or contractors, who signed a non-disclosure agreement to obtain a security clearance that had granted them access to classified information. They were punished for retaining documents or disclosing files to the press.

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