US prosecutors are preparing to pursue a criminal case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, escalating a long battle targeting his anti-secrecy group even as he remains holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. 

Prosecutors have obtained a sealed indictment against Assange, something that emerged in a Thursday filing in an unrelated criminal case in a Virginia federal court. Because the indictment was sealed, the nature of any charges against Assange has not been made public at this point.

Thursday's filing had also been sealed, but it was made public for reasons that were unclear, according to a person familiar with the matter. Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the US attorney's office in Alexandria, Virginia, said the filing was made in error.

Wikileaks said in a Twitter post it was an “apparent cut-and-paste error.”

Criminal charges in the United States could pressure Britain to extradite Assange, an Australian national. US officials have acknowledged that federal prosecutors have been conducting a lengthy criminal probe into Assange and WikiLeaks.

Assange could not be reached for comment. But one of his lawyers said on Friday that he would not willingly travel to the US to face charges filed under seal against him.

WikiLeaks became known over the last decade for publishing documents that were not previously public. In a recent high profile instance, during the 2016 US presidential campaign, the group released some of a trove of Democratic emails that US intelligence agencies have concluded were hacked by Russia.

Intelligence agencies said Russia used hacking and other tactics to try to tilt the election in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump. Moscow has denied this.

Lawyers for Assange and others have said his work with WikiLeaks was critical to a free press and was protected speech.

“The notion that federal criminal charges could be brought based on the publication of truthful information is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set,” Barry Pollack, a US lawyer for Assange, said in a statement.

WikiLeaks said in a statement on Friday that Assange was willing to work with British officials as long he was not extradited to the United States.

Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over allegations of rape, which he has denied.

Sweden dropped its investigation of Assange, but Britain has said that if he left the embassy he would be arrested for violating his bail terms.

Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer advising Assange, said in a statement it was “no surprise” that the United States was seeking to charge Assange, and Australian officials should allow Assange to return there.

Ecuadorean officials had no immediate comment on Friday.

(Cover Photo: File Photo: Julian Assange (C), the founder of the WikiLeaks and his supporters leave the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012 in London, England. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters, AFP