美國政府欲逮捕阿桑奇

The US is reviving a campaign to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as part of a broader crackdown against the unauthorised disclosure of classified information, said US attorney-general Jeff Sessions.

美國司法部長傑夫?塞申斯(Jeff Sessions)表示，美國正在再次發起一場運動，尋求逮捕維基解密(WikiLeaks)創始人朱利安?阿桑奇(Julian Assange)的機會，以此作爲一場打擊未經授權泄露保密信息的更大範圍行動的一部分。

The arrest of Mr Assange was a “priority” for the US Department of Justice, he said. “We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks,” he said at a press conference in El Paso, Texas. “This is a matter that has gone beyond anything that I’m aware of . . . So, yes, it is a priority. Whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.”

塞申斯表示，逮捕阿桑奇是美國司法部(DoJ)的“首要任務”。他在德克薩斯州埃爾帕索的一個新聞發佈會上表示：“對所有泄露事件，我們將要、也已經在加大打擊力度。這件事已經超出我的認知……也就是說，沒錯，這是個首要任務。一旦坐實一宗案件，我們將尋求將某些人關進監獄。”

Mr Sessions spoke a few hours before US media reports said prosecutors were preparing criminal charges against Mr Assange for his role in disclosing diplomatic and intelligence documents. Both the FBI and the DoJ declined to comment.

在塞申斯發表這一講話幾小時後，美國媒體報道稱，多名檢察官正在準備就阿桑奇在泄露外交和情報文件方面的行爲向他發起刑事訴訟。美國聯邦調查局(FBI)和司法部都拒絕置評。

WikiLeaks last month released nearly 8,000 web pages detailing an array of highly classified CIA hacking tools, in the latest blow to US spy secrets.

上個月，維基解密曾公佈近8000個網頁，提供了一系列高度機密的美國中央情報局(CIA)破解工具的細節，這是對美國間諜活動機密的最新一次打擊。

Prosecutors’ interest in Mr Assange dates to 2010 when his radical transparency group released a trove of US diplomatic cables acquired by a former US soldier now known as Chelsea Manning. In November 2010, then-US attorney-general Eric Holder confirmed “an active ongoing criminal investigation” of the group and its associates.

檢察官對阿桑奇的興趣要回溯到2010年。當時，阿桑奇激進的透明化組織公佈了一批由目前名爲切爾西?曼寧(Chelsea Manning)的前美國士兵獲得的美國外交電報。2010年11月，時任美國司法部長埃裏克?霍爾德(Eric Holder)曾確認對該組織及其合作者“正在積極開展刑事調查”。

WikiLeaks acknowledged the existence of a federal grand jury investigating its activities, including the issuance of multiple subpoenas, on the group’s website.

維基解密曾在其網站上承認，存在一個調查該組織活動的聯邦大陪審團，該陪審團還曾發出多張傳票。

But the effort to prosecute Mr Assange, who took refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012, foundered. The WikiLeaks founder defended his role in making public classified US government material as equivalent to reporting by mainstream publications and thus deserving of First Amendment protections.

不過，起訴阿桑奇的企圖並沒有成功。2012年，阿桑奇進入厄瓜多爾在倫敦的大使館避難。這位維基解密創始人爲其在公開美國政府保密材料方面所起的作用辯護稱，他這一行爲相當於主流出版物的報道行爲，因此應該受到憲法《第一修正案》(First Amendment)的保護。