Julian Assange’s father wants his son extradited home to Australia
Julian Assange’s devastated father has revealed his reaction to seeing his son after he was arrested, and has called on Scott Morrison to extradite the Wikileaks founder home to Australia.
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World Exclusive: Julian Assange’s devastated dad has asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to bring him home to Australia.
John Shipton, of Melbourne, told News Corp in an exclusive interview it was time for Australia to step up diplomatic efforts.
Assange was found guilty of breaching bail in London last week after the Ecuadorean embassy stripped him of his right to asylum.
“I saw him, the way they dragged him down the steps, the coppers, he didn’t look good. I’m 74 and I look better than him and he’s 47. It’s such a shock,” he said. “For months and months he has been living like a high security prisoner, he can’t even go to the toilet.
“There have been cameras watching his every move.”
When asked if the Australian Government should save Julian, Mr Shipton said: “DFAT and the Prime Minister should in a nuanced way do something”.
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“It can be resolved simply to the satisfaction of all. There has been some talk in a meeting between a senator and a senior DFAT official to extradite Julian to Australia.”
Assange has been at the centre of a storm after he was involved in one of the biggest leaks in US Government history that included footage of a military helicopter strike that killed innocent civilians and journalists in Iraq.
He sought asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault charges levelled against him.
Those charges were dropped in May 2017, but Swedish prosecutors say they are now re-examining the case after a request by one of the alleged victim’s lawyers.
The United States has also been trying extradite him over the leaks of classified documents through the Wikileaks website in 2010.
This week Assange, a founder of Wikileaks, was arrested and charged by the US.
Originally published as Julian Assange’s father wants his son extradited home to Australia
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