Spain's Judge Garzon Says U.S. Secretly Working to Have Wikileaks Founder Tried There [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Spain's Judge Garzon says United States secretly working to have Wikileaks founder tried there
BY CIARAN GILES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, AUGUST 1, 2012
MADRID - A controversial Spanish judge criticized the U.S. investigation into WikiLeaks on Wednesday, saying that the grand jury process which could lead to charges being filed against the secret-spilling site's founder is undemocratic.
Baltasar Garzon, a human rights lawyer best known for indicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998, recently agreed to act as an international co-ordinator for Julian Assange, the embattled WikiLeaks founder.
"A democratic country can't operate with its back to a person who is suspected of very serious crimes that could deprive him of liberty for a long time," Garzon told reporters. "The United States should make it known what it is doing so that Mr. Assange can stand up for his rights. We don't know what we are facing."
A Virginia grand jury is studying evidence that might lead to charges being filed against Assange for WikiLeaks' mass disclosure of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents — including a quarter of a million State Department cables whose publication rocked Washington. The grand jury has been investigating the matter for more than a year and could continue for months or even years longer. Witnesses have been called, though the identities of most are unknown.
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