https://edition.cnn.com/uk/live-news/julian-assange-arrest-dle-gbr-intl/index.ht...US confirms charges against AssangeThe US Department of Justice has confirmed Julian Assange has been indicted on conspiracy with Chelsea Manning to commit computer intrusion in 2010.
“The indictment alleges that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the US Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password” on classified DoD [US Department of Defense] computer systems, according to a Justice Department press release.
The indictment -- unsealed Thursday -- was signed last year on March 8.
Earlier Manning's lawyer expressed hope that Assange's arrest on Thursday in London could open the door to Manning's release from incarceration.
Moira Meltzer-Cohen, an attorney for Chelsea Manning, said: “Were he to be extradited [to the US] we hope it would signal her release but that is not, unfortunately, a foregone conclusion.”
Manning served about seven years in prison for her disclosure of US military and diplomatic secrets to WikiLeaks in 2010, before being released in May 2017.
But Manning was jailed again in early March of this year, when a judge held her in contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury about those disclosures.
Her testimony appeared to be part of an effort by federal prosecutors investigating Assange.