After six-plus years of asylum in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was removed from that diplomatic facility by British police and jailed. He may ultimately face courts in the United States or Sweden, as well. If these democracies handle it properly, Mr. Assange's case could conclude as a victory for the rule of law, not the defeat for civil liberties of which his defenders mistakenly warn.
Contrary to much pro-WikiLeaks propaganda, Mr. Assange had no legitimate fears for his life, either at the hands of CIA assassins or, via extradition, the U.S. death penalty, when he fled to the embassy of what was then an anti-American government. Rather, he was avoiding transfer to Sweden pursuant to a seemingly credible sexual assault charge lodged against him in that country.
Assange is not a free-press hero. Yes, WikiLeaks acquired and published secret government documents, many of them newsworthy, as shown by their subsequent use in newspaper articles. Contrary to the norms of journalism, however, Assange sometimes obtained such records unethically--including, according to a separate federal indictment, by trying to help now-former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning hack into a classified U.S. computer system.
Assange's transfer to U.S. custody, followed possibly by additional Russia-related charges or his conversion into a cooperating witness, could be the key to learning more about Russian intelligence's efforts to undermine democracy in the West. Certainly he is long overdue for personal accountability.
Editorial on 04/19/2019