Ethereum developer and Wikiscanner inventor Virgil Griffith filed a motion last week to dismiss US government charges that he “supported” the North Korean government, documents released last week showed.
Griffith was arrested last November after speaking at a North Korean cryptocurrency conference. Authorities alleged he had violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by visiting the restricted country, and went on to claim that Griffith demonstrated the use of blockchain technology to evade economic sanctions.
Ethereum developer battles US charges
Brian Klein, attorney for Griffith, said the US authorities did not “specify alleged open facts” or make actual “allegations of fact”. The motion also regards the exchange of information (like Griffith in North Korea) as a legal act that does not defy US sanctions.
“Here the government is trying to punish speaking …”
Virgil Griffith, charged with sanctions violations following his trip to North Korea, is petitioning for his release on the grounds of the First Amendment. This is a major challenge for US sanctions enforcement: https://t.co/hnWAF99D5y
– Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) October 26, 2020
“It appears that the government’s theory is that by attending and speaking at a blockchain conference in Pyongyang, Mr Griffith was providing ‘services’ because he was’ providing valuable information on blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies to the DPRK and participating in discussions on how to use them of cryptocurrencies participated. “Technologies to circumvent sanctions and launder money,” it says in the application.
But the defenders disagree. Klein claims Griffith spoke about matters and listed information that is already publicly available – nothing that is legally protected or protected by law in the United States.
It read:
“Knowing that Mr. Griffith was only attending a conference on his own initiative and giving a very general speech based on publicly available information – as he does almost monthly at conferences around the world – the government nevertheless decided to call him indicting the provision of “services” to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”). “
First sanction of its kind
The motion also stated that the President of the United States has no power to control the transmission of public information and that it is not under any executive order or the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“This is a material defect because the criminal offense is in an area where the legal landscape has not yet been clarified and more details are required.”
The motion ended with the above points: “Because of all these serious and fatal shortcomings, Mr. Griffith respectfully requests the court to dismiss the indictment unconditionally.”
The sanction is the first instance of a legal case involving cryptocurrency “services” provided to a restricted country like North Korea; the conclusion of which can point the way for the future legal procedure in such cases.
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