After a month long delay, today U.S. journalist Barrett Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison. He should be released in the spring of 2017.
This is a disappointment as there where hopes that he would be released today, after time served.
Barret Brown is the journalist who used material obtained by the Anonymous network to start an investigative project about outsourcing of U.S. intelligence operations to private contractors: Project PM.
He was supposed to be sentenced back in December last year, but there was a delay until today. Here you can read the blog post I wrote about the case back then.
And here you can read the speech Brown gave in court today.
This is not the rule of law, Your Honor, it is the rule of Law Enforcement, and it is very dangerous.
This is a very disturbing affair–with far reaching implications for journalism and transparency. It is a part of a pattern where the U.S. Government is hunting down journalists, to prevent them from exposing the truth.
/ HAX
Update:
After receiving his sentence Barrett Brown released the following statement:
“Good news! — The U.S. government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex. For the next 35 months, I’ll be provided with free food, clothes, and housing as I seek to expose wrongdgoing by Bureau of Prisons officials and staff and otherwise report on news and culture in the world’s greatest prison system. I want to thank the Department of Justice for having put so much time and energy into advocating on my behalf; rather than holding a grudge against me for the two years of work I put into in bringing attention to a DOJ-linked campaign to harass and discredit journalists like Glenn Greenwald, the agency instead labored tirelessly to ensure that I received this very prestigious assignment. — Wish me luck!”
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