Julian Assange: Journalist or Criminal?

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is widely recognized as a civilized whistleblower that takes no fault. However, some might argue that his work only generates hostility and that he should be locked up in jail for life.

Image retrieved from BBC News.

When Assange founded Wikileaks in 2006, the overall intention was to publish confidential documents and images about the government from anonymous sources. This would demonstrate his whistleblower activity, all while remaining under the radar. In April 2010, Assange released footage of US soldiers shooting 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq. This exposure made millions of headlines and forced many followers to believe that he was "evil" for exposing the American government and their military.

In my opinion, I fully understand why Americans did not approve of him exposing the US soldiers because it made their country look bad and they believed that he was "going against" America. However, since Assange is not an American, I don't believe that he was going against his own country by posting this footage. All he was doing was releasing the information that he had in his possession, something every single journalist does.

One of the main crimes that Assange was charged with was 17 charges related to the Espionage Act of 1917 under the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Espionage Act of 1917 prohibits the interference with military operations and prevents the support of United States enemies during wartime. Due to the illegal documents and military footage posted on Wikileaks, Assange was charged with this, which carries a maximum sentence of 170 years in prison. These charges were extremely controversial because other publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post also produced exposing information in the past and were not charged with anything.

It is hard for me to comprehend the treatment of Assange because it is all being handled by countries that he doesn't have citizenship for. Over the years, he has dealt with legal issues in Sweden, Ecuador,  and the United States, but his citizenship is in Australia. How does it make sense that the laws of all of these foreign countries apply to him if he is not from any of them? Aside from that, all of his work is not done in America either, making the situation much more confusing. I think I am having the hardest time understanding why Australia is letting this all happen. I know that if an American were locked up for ten years in foreign countries, the United States would do anything to get them back. Why is Australia letting this happen to him?

After doing more research on this topic, I noticed that journalists around the world are divided on their opinions about Assange. Some believe that he is a journalist just doing his job and others believe that he is a criminal for posting such obscene government information. In my opinion, I think Assange was doing what he has always been doing: whistleblowing. Exposing the government through his posts, informing the public on what is really happening, and digging deeper into the "why" behind government issues. This is something that every journalist is familiar with. Finding the issue, getting the facts, and telling people about it. It doesn't make a lot of sense as to why this journalist was so different from the rest.

As a journalist, one needs to expose the truth and nothing but the full truth. Assange did his duty and has already faced ten years in captivity. I am interested to see where the rest of this case goes and I hope the government makes the ethical decision.


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