WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange charged in the US

Protesters in Quito show their support to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during a demonstration on October 31. (AFP)
Updated 16 November 2018
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange charged in the US

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was behind a massive dump of classified US documents in 2010, has been charged in the United States, WikiLeaks said Thursday.

Prosecutors revealed the existence of the sealed indictment inadvertently in a court filing in an unrelated case, WikiLeaks said.

The exact nature of the charges against Assange was not immediately known.

“SCOOP: US Department of Justice ‘accidentally’ reveals existence of sealed charges (or a draft for them) against WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange in apparent cut-and-paste error in an unrelated case also at the Eastern District of Virginia,” Wikileaks wrote on Twitter.

The still unsealed charges against Assange were disclosed by Assistant US Attorney Kellen Dwyer as she made a filing in the unrelated case and urged a judge to keep that filing sealed.

Dwyer wrote, “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged,” according to The Washington Post.

Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would “need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.”

US media were alerted late Thursday to the inadvertent disclosure thanks to a tweet from Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. He is known to follow court filings closely.


EU warns against Trump’s tariffs threat over Greenland

Updated 17 January 2026
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EU warns against Trump’s tariffs threat over Greenland

  • “Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” they wrote
  • “Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty“

BRUSSELS: European Union leaders on Saturday warned against US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on European countries until he has achieved his purchase of Greenland.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, issued the joint statement hours after Trump threatened multiple European nations with tariffs of up to 25 percent.


“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” they wrote in a post on social media.
“Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they added.
The statement came days after Danish and Greenlandic officials held talks in Washington over Trump’s bid to acquire the territory, without reaching agreement.
“The EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland,” said the EU statement.
“Dialogue remains essential, and we are committed to building on the process begun already last week between the Kingdom of Denmark and the US.”