‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: AUSTRALIA PM ALBANESE URGES RESOLUTION OF JULIAN ASSANGE CASE

Fri 05 May 2023:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed frustration with the United States’ ongoing efforts to extradite Wikileaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange, who has been held in a high-security UK prison for the past four years while fighting the case.

Albanese, who is in the UK for King Charles III’s coronation, expressed frustration that there had not yet been a diplomatic settlement to the situation and expressed concern about the now 51-year-old’s mental health.

“There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration,” Albanese told the ABC in an interview on Friday.

Australian PM Albanese sat down with the ABC while in London for the coronation of King Charles III.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)

Albanese said Assange’s case had to be examined in terms of whether the time he had “effectively served” was more than a “reasonable” sentence if the allegations against him were proved.

“I just say that enough is enough,” Albanese said.

“I know it’s frustrating, I share the frustration. I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is and the US administration is certainly very aware of what the Australian government’s position is,” he added.

Australian citizen Assange has fought for years in UK courts to avoid being extradited to the US, where he is wanted on accusations of espionage over the 2010 publication of secret US military records and diplomatic cables.

He was initially arrested in London that year following accusations of sexual assault in Sweden and two years later the UK’s Supreme Court ruled he should be extradited to Sweden to face those charges.

Assange then broke bail to hole up in Ecuador’s embassy in London where he sought asylum.

UK police forcibly removed him from the embassy in 2019 and the offer of asylum was withdrawn. Sweden eventually dropped the rape charges but the extradition process over the leaks continued.

The UK approved his extradition in June last year, saying the courts had “not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process” to do so. However, it said Assange could appeal, which he did.

Albanese said he had “some issues” with what Mr Assange published and understood concerns raised in the US that leaks of confidential information could “lead to consequences for people who are engaged in an activity”.

However he said the punishment of Mr Assange has been disproportionate.

“I think that when Australians look at the circumstances, look at the fact that the person who released the information (Chelsea Manning) is walking freely now, having served some time in incarceration but is now released for a long period of time, then they’ll see that there is a disconnect there.”

Assange’s supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that his prosecution is a politically motivated assault on journalism and free speech.

Albanese said previously he has advocated for Assange in meetings with officials of US President Joe Biden.

On Friday, he declined to say whether he would raise the issue with Biden.

“The way that diplomacy works … is probably not to forecast the discussions that you will have, or have had with leaders of other nations,” Albanese said. “I’ll engage diplomatically in order to achieve an outcome.”

Albanese said he did not want to get into an argument about whether Assange’s alleged actions were right or wrong.

Originally, a UK judge ruled that Assange should not be deported, saying his mental health problems meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted.

“I am concerned about Mr Assange’s mental health,” Albanese said. “There was a court decision here in the United Kingdom that was overturned on appeal that went to Mr Assange’s health as well and I am concerned for him.”

When asked whether Western leaders were doing enough to speak up about principles of freedom of expression around Mr Assange’s case, Mr Albanese said it was important to balance free speech with national security.

“We do value freedom of expression, but we also have, in today’s uncertain world, legitimate concerns about our national security,” he said.

“I’m not going to sit here as someone who chairs our National Security Committee and say it’s fine if you publish all of the details about our National Security Committee deliberations because if you did that Australian lives would be put in danger.

“There are real consequences for that … I’m a big supporter of freedom of the press, but with that also comes a responsibility to take into account the consequences of whether information which is not available to the public, what the consequences would be if we had just a free for all.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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