Labor split on aiding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange against extradition to US
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has downplayed the level of support Julian Assange should expect from the Australian government in his bid to avoid extradition to the US.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has downplayed the level of support detained WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should expect from the Australian government in his bid to avoid extradition to face espionage charges in the US.
Despite Anthony Albanese’s suggestion the Australian hacktivist should be released, Mr Marles said through a spokeswoman that Mr Assange’s future was out of Australia’s hands.
“This is a matter for the United Kingdom,” she said. “Like any Australian citizen facing legal proceedings abroad, he will be provided consular assistance.”
The comments came as one of Mr Assange’s Australian lawyers, Greg Barns SC, said there was growing support for his client, even among those who regarded him as “a dickhead”.
“Even people who have been hostile to Assange in the past and might have thought he was a bit of a dickhead are now swinging around,” he said.
“There has been a marked shift in the opinion of many of those people I have spoken to, because they think the case has just gone on too long, that it has become a humanitarian issue, and they welcome the shift in rhetoric on behalf of the Albanese government.”
The UK Home office ordered Mr Assange’s extradition to the US late on Friday after British courts found the move would not be “oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process”, or a violation of his human rights.
Mr Assange’s legal team was given 14 days to appeal the decision to the High Court.
Mr Marles has previously been highly critical of Mr Assange, saying he was “no hero” and accusing him of jeopardising the lives of Australian Defence Force personnel. “What he has done over the last few years has put a whole lot of people’s lives at risk, including those of Australian service personnel,” he said in February 2016.
But there are growing calls for the Prime Minister to raise Mr Assange’s case personally with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he attends next week’s NATO summit in Madrid.
When asked about Mr Assange’s case in December, Mr Albanese said “enough is enough”, arguing the WikiLeaks boss had already paid “a big price” for his unauthorised release of classified information.
He reiterated that position to Nine newspapers in recent days.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, chair of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group, said Mr Albanese was “being pulled in many directions” by those with different positions the case.
“Within the ALP, there are a range of views. There are people who still hold WikiLeaks responsible for Hillary Clinton’s defeat to Donald Trump,” he said. “But the question is, are the people who are going up against Albanese prepared to put the welfare of an Australian citizen, the rule of law and media freedom, at risk?”
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke said on Sunday the government would not conduct “megaphone” diplomacy, but Mr Assange’s case should come to a close. “We said that in opposition. We’ve repeated that in government,” he said.
“The issue needs to be brought to a close. Australia is not a party to the prosecution that’s happening here. We’ve been building constructive relationships again with our allies and they’re conversations that happen government to government.”
According to an unsealed US indictment, Mr Assange is wanted over “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the US”. He faces 18 federal charges there over publishing classified diplomatic cables and military reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
While there is growing support for Mr Assange in Australia, many in the US Democratic party are unsympathetic following his decision to publish hacked emails from Mrs Clinton’s 2016 campaign that were seized on by Mr Trump.
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