Australia asked to end the “persecution” towards Julian Assange. On the occasion of a summit between the foreign and defense ministers of Washington and Canberra held in Brisbane and focused on military cooperation, the home country of the founder of WikiLeaks he asked the United States to put an end to the judicial war with the journalist currently detained in Great Britain and waiting of extradition in Usawhere it is searched for 18 criminal charges relating to the publication of large collections of highly confidential military and diplomatic documents.
As reported by the Guardianthe US Secretary of State Antony Blink confirmed that the Australian government had raised the Assange issue several times and stated that it “understand the reasons and the concerns of Australians” but that “it is also important that the counterpart understands US concern over the Australian whistleblower”, insisting on how Assange provoked “serious risks for national security” and thus rejecting the request.
In addition to Blinken, the head of the Pentagon was present at the high-level summit Lloyd Austin, the Australian Minister of Defence Richard Marles and that of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong. The rejection of the Australian request comes after another attempt to counter the extradition requested by Washington, rejected just last June 9, when theHigh Court of London ruled that Assange had no legal grounds to challenge the decision.
Julian Assange has been detained for more than 4 years in the London jail of Belmarshawaiting the verdict on extradition to the United States, approved in December 2021 by the British High Court and signed six months later by the then Home Secretary Come on Patel. In the US it risks up to 175 years in prison to spend in a penitentiary of maximum security. Among the dossiers made public via Wikileaks, classified information relating to bombing in Yemengarlic abuse and acts of torture committed by the US military in the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghraibup to the horrors of war in Afghanistan.