[ti:US Charges WikiLeaks Founder Assange after London Arrest] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.28]British police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange [00:06.32]Thursday at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. [00:11.20]Assange had taken refuge in the embassy in 2012. [00:18.28]He went there to avoid being sent to Sweden, [00:22.40]where he was wanted for questioning [00:25.48]as part of a sexual assault investigation. [00:31.84]Sweden suspended the investigation in 2017, [00:36.92]but Assange remained at the embassy over fears [00:41.24]he might be sent to the United States. [00:44.44]The U.S. Department of Justice wants him [00:49.17]in connection with WikiLeaks' publication [00:52.76]of secret government documents. [00:56.56]British police said on Thursday [01:00.63]they were invited to the embassy by Ecuador's ambassador [01:05.52]after the Ecuadorian government [01:08.12]cancelled its offer of asylum to Assange. [01:13.36]A short time later, the U.S. Justice Department [01:17.38]announced it was bringing charges against Assange. [01:21.25]It accuses him of conspiring to break [01:24.80]into U.S. government computers [01:27.60]to read secret documents and communications. [01:33.68]The Justice Department asked Britain [01:36.45]to send him to the United States for trial. [01:41.32]His next appearance in a British court is set for May 2. [01:48.56]WikiLeaks, a non-profit website, was the creation of Julian Assange. [01:55.20]Its goal is to get and publish secret information and news leaks [02:01.36]provided by individuals who wish to remain anonymous. [02:07.24]The website angered U.S. officials by publishing [02:11.33]hundreds of thousands of secret messages [02:14.52]from diplomats and other officials. [02:19.72]The U.S. government claims that in March 2010, [02:24.04]Assange worked with an army private, Chelsea Manning, [02:28.44]to break into Department of Defense computers. [02:32.52]Those computers are connected [02:34.84]to the Secret Internet Protocol Network, [02:38.56]a system used for secret documents and communications. [02:44.52]Manning was an intelligence analyst [02:47.28]who had permission to use the computers. [02:53.32]The charge can lead to up to five years in prison. [02:59.40]Assange will have the right to argue against [03:02.72]the U.S. extradition request in British courts. [03:07.12]He will most likely argue that the case is political and not criminal. [03:12.72]Assange is not accused of spying, [03:17.24]something many supporters of press freedom are pleased to hear. [03:22.82]Assange has always said that WikiLeaks is a press organization. [03:29.80]He says it works for government openness. [03:35.92]A lawyer working for Assange, Barry J. Pollack, [03:40.68]accused the United States of seeking [03:43.53]to extradite a "foreign journalist to face criminal charges [03:48.60]for publishing truthful information." [03:52.20]In 2013, Assange's organization [03:56.72]became involved with Edward Snowden, [03:59.99]who once worked for the U.S. government. [04:03.20]Snowden released National Security Agency documents [04:07.72]and now lives in exile in Russia. [04:11.84]In 2016, WikiLeaks released thousands of emails [04:17.80]about the election campaign [04:19.86]of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. [04:25.04]Those emails were taken from computers operated [04:28.61]by the Democratic National Committee. [04:32.68]U.S. investigators have said that Russian agents [04:36.46]broke into the computer systems [04:38.92]and gave the emails to WikiLeaks. [04:43.72]Assange says he did not get the emails from Russia. [04:49.40]The Justice Department charge against Assange [04:52.54]is not related to the U.S. investigation [04:55.80]into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. [05:01.84]The investigation did not lead to charges against Assange. [05:06.41]It also did not find evidence that Donald Trump's [05:10.80]presidential election campaign [05:13.10]worked with Russian agents on the break in. [05:18.52]During the election campaign, [05:20.88]Trump praised WikiLeaks [05:23.11]for releasing the damaging Democratic emails. [05:27.16]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM