In February, the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot performed an impromptu “punk-prayer” in Moscow’s hallowed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in protest against President Putin’s controversial reelection and the Russian Orthodox Church’s political sway. For more than six months, their case has become a global cause célèbre. This past Friday, three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years imprisonment for “hooliganism” motivated by “religious hatred.” Both within and beyond Russia, their treatment has been regarded as oppressive, their trial frivolous, and the verdict a grossly unfair, politically-motivated attack on free speech.

Following worldwide shows of solidarity from human rights groups, artists and citizens, the U.S. Department of State has also voiced its support for Pussy Riot, saying that it is “concerned” by the “disproportionate” verdicts. Spokesperson Victoria Nuland has called for Russian authorities to “ensure that the right to freedom of expression is upheld.”

Indeed, Russia should do that. However, we here should pay attention to the almost laughable contradiction of the U.S. government snatching for itself the moral high ground of being the purveyors of democracy. Ironically, though perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. is making such statements when due to its own pressure exerted overseas, British police have surrounded the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and the U.K. has unethically threatened to remove both the diplomatic standing of the Embassy building and the news publisher who has been granted political asylum in it.

Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, has been legitimately granted asylum in Ecuador because the U.K. is having him extradited to Sweden, from where he validly fears extradition to the U.S. In Sweden, he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape. He has not been formally charged, as there simply is not enough evidence for that, and the allegations are shrouded in controversy because of the credibility of the accusing parties and the extremely broad definition of rape in Sweden. He has offered Swedish authorities the chance to interrogate him in London, which is normal procedure in transnational legal proceedings, but they have declined him. He has also offered to go to Sweden for questioning with the assurance that he would not be extradited to the US, which too has been declined.

Because of his work with Wikileaks, a secret grand jury in the U.S. has already been reported to have issued a sealed indictment against Assange. Prominent U.S. politicians of both parties have called for his assassination or life imprisonment as a spy or a terrorist, which could happen if he is convicted under the 1917 Espionage Act (an adjudication which some commentators hold would violate the First and 14th Amendments). The same Victoria Nuland quoted previously has insinuated toward his probable prosecution in the U.S.

However, any of this happening will too be an attack on free expression and democracy. Even if Wikileaks’ activities are judged illegal by American courts, their legitimitacy from a holistic democratic perspective is unambiguous. Wikileaks exposed misuses of power, by the U.S. government and others, to an extent never before seen in history. The news media is called the Fourth Estate of democracy—its role is to report the misdeeds of and keep a check on the government, and that is what Wikileaks has been doing. The documents released by Wikileaks details offenses, including the mass-murder of civilians, and displays the cavalier attitude held by diplomats regarding the same. Such information should not be secret to begin with, and so, its dissemination is not just an exercise of free expression, but a service to democracy.

The U.S. government has not prosecuted the publication of classified information in all instances. In fact, the government itself has leaked extremely sensitive material which showed potential as propaganda, such as the recent New York Times revelations about President Barack Obama’s kill-lists and cyberwarfare. Thus, the crusade against Wikileaks and Assange is not only an assault on press freedom, but viewed in conjunction with Washington’s own leaks and its statements regarding Pussy Riot, highlights an ugly fact about the U.S. government: It supports free expression and democracy when they are useful to its own image and power, but will do anything to restrict them when they are not.