The UK home secretary ruled in favor of Assange’s extradition, and he faces up to 175 years in prison for exposing US war crimes if convicted
by Dave DeCamp Posted on
Categories News Tags Assange, Australia, Wikileaks
Australia’s new prime minister has rejected calls for him to publicly demand Washington drop its extradition request of WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Friday Assange’s extradition to the US, where he faces up to 175 years in prison on charges of espionage for exposing US war crimes. Assange can appeal the ruling, and his legal team plans to do so, but the new Australian government has ruled out putting public pressure on President Biden to drop the charges.
Speaking to reporters in Australia on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who took office on May 23, declined to say whether or not he has spoken with Biden about Assange. Albanese also criticized people pressuring him to do something about the case online.
“There are some people who think that if you put things in capital letters on Twitter and put an exclamation mark, that somehow makes it more important. It doesn’t,” Albanese said. “I intend to lead a government that engages diplomatically and appropriately with our partners.”
The previous Australian government under Scott Morrison also refused to push the US to drop the extradition request. John Carr, a former Australian foreign minister and former premier of New South Wales, wrote in The Syndey Morning Heraldthat “the Morrison government declined even the faintest whinny of protest” when the Trump administration first pursued Assange’s extradition.
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