ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An apparent criminal complaint against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is the subject of a federal court hearing in Virginia.
FILE – In this May 19, 2017, file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange greets supporters from a balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The Justice Department inadvertently named Assange in a court filing in an unrelated case that raised immediate questions about whether the WikiLeaks founder had been charged under seal. Assange’s name appears twice in an August 2018 filing from a prosecutor in Virginia in a separate case involving a man accused of coercing a minor. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
Free-press advocates want a judge to unseal the complaint after prosecutors in an unrelated case inadvertently mentioned charges against Assange.
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning in Alexandria.
Prosecutors oppose the motion. They argue the public has no right to know whether a person has been charged until there has been an arrest. The government also says the accidental reference to charges against Assange does not mean he has actually been charged.
The Associated Press and other news outlets have reported that Assange is indeed facing unspecified charges under seal.
Assange has been staying in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London under a grant of asylum since 2012.
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