The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has released a long-awaited report on its handling of the prosecution of Aaron Swartz, the Internet freedom activist who committed suicide in January. Swartz took his own life weeks before he was set to go to trial for using MIT’s network to download millions of articles provided by the nonprofit research service JSTOR. He was facing 35 years in prison, a penalty supporters called excessively harsh. The MIT review concludes the school remained neutral in the prosecution of Swartz, but adds it failed to “duly take into account the wider background of information policy against which the prosecution played out and in which MIT people have traditionally been passionate leaders.” Friends and colleagues of Swartz have denounced the report as a whitewash. Ben Wikler, who co-founded the radio show “Flaming Sword of Justice” with Aaron Swartz, spoke to Democracy Now! on Tuesday.

Ben Wikler: “When I found out what MIT had concluded, I got angry. MIT promised to investigate the full facts of the case. Somehow it’s decided that it was neutral throughout. And the MIT president said that their actions were reasonable and in good faith and appropriate. In fact, MIT was working with the prosecution and stonewalling the defense, as people who were close to Aaron know. So this is really just a whitewash. And it’s disappointing and, frankly, makes me furious.”

Swartz’s attorneys have filed an ethics complaint against federal prosecutors, saying they withheld exculpatory evidence.