Assange ‘to be charged with espionage’
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s lawyer has said she expects US prosecutors to charge him with espionage soon.
Jennifer Robinson was quoted as saying a US indictment was imminent but offered no more details.
The US Justice Department has been looking into a range of criminal charges, including violations of the 1917 Espionage Act, that could be filed after the whistle-blowing website released hundreds of confidential US diplomatic cables.
Cyber activists attacking organizations seen as foes of WikiLeaks briefly blocked a Dutch prosecution website Friday after a 16-year-old suspected of involvement in the campaign was arrested in the Netherlands.
The activists also tried to block the website of online payment firm Moneybookers, but denied their attacks were intended to create business turmoil or badly disrupt online Christmas shopping.
US authorities said they had not pressured companies to stop working with WikiLeaks.
Attorney General Eric Holder said: “We have not pressured anybody to do anything.”
Online retail and web-hosting powerhouse Amazon stopped hosting WikiLeaks’ website last week, and Thursday it briefly became the pro-WikiLeaks campaigners’ main target – before they admitted it was too big for them, for the moment.
The statement by the activists, who collectively call themselves “Anonymous,” added that a lack of firepower was not the only reason the attack on Amazon had not succeeded. They felt “attacking a major online retailer when people are buying presents for their loved ones, would be in bad taste.”