News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Media blackout after key witness against Assange admits lying. Parent comment

Re:Media blackout after key witness against Assange admits l... by nickysielicki on Friday July 02, 2021 @09:54PM (#27718734)
Unfortunately, most of the replies I got are stuck debating Assange and his character. But it's wholly irrelevant if Assange and Wikileaks went about things the wrong way. This story is about the behavior of the unelected officials at the Department of Justice and the FBI that are making things up out of thin air by trading leniency for false statements with known criminals.

If he's committed a crime, charge him with it and give him his day in court. If he hasn't -- like in the case of this story where he never asked anyone to commit any crimes against the Icelandic government, don't make charges up. I can't believe this even needs to be said.

That's what you should be outraged about, and you don't have to like Assange or Wikileaks to be outraged about that.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Media blackout after key witness against Assange admits l... by sjy on Saturday July 03, 2021 @03:44AM (#27720025)
> If he's committed a crime, charge him with it and give him his day in court.

Isn’t this exactly what the government has done? https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1289641/downl...

There are lots of unusual things about the Assange case, but the fact that the government tried to strengthen it by offering leniency to an informant isn’t one of them.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Media blackout after key witness against Assange admits l... by tdeck on Saturday July 03, 2021 @02:22AM (#27719770)
The biggest problem is that there are no reliable mechanisms to hold law enforcement accountable when they abuse their power or fabricate evidence. Even getting a conviction overturned is a slim chance, let alone any kind of consequences for the officials involved.
[ Parent | on HN ]