Fault Lines examines what Assange’s case says about press freedom and the consequences of publishing state secrets.

In 2010, the WikiLeaks founder partnered with other media organisations to publish hundreds of thousands of classified US documents about its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It remains the largest leak of classified information to date.

He is the only publisher facing charges for releasing this material.

The Australian citizen faces a 175-year sentence and has been indicted under the US Espionage Act for activities journalists engage in every day.

It is the first time the Act has been used against a publisher – raising alarm bells among First Amendment advocates. In the meantime, he’s being detained in the harshest prison in the UK because of a US extradition request.