Image: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (left) and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right). Photo: Wikimedia commons.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed his frustration with the United States’ campaign against Australian founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange. In an interview with the ABC, Albanese stated that the continuing detention of Assange “serves nothing,” and that the Australian government should be doing more to advocate for his release.
Assange has been held in Belmarsh Prison in the UK since 2019, where he is fighting extradition to the United States to face 18 espionage charges related to the publication of classified documents.
The Prime Minister said he shares frustration at the lack of resolution in Assange’s case.
“I know it’s frustrating. I share the frustration. I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is,” he said in the ABC interview.
Albanese criticised the US government’s pursuit of Assange, saying that “it is a matter for the courts to determine, not the United States Government, what Julian Assange is charged with and whether he should be extradited.”
He made no comment on whether the subject would be broached with US President Joe Biden at the upcoming Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney at the end of May.
Albanese also called on the Australian government to provide Assange with consular assistance, stating that “our government should be doing everything it can to ensure that Mr. Assange is treated fairly and that his human rights are respected.”
Assange’s case has been a contentious issue in Australia, with many calling for the government to do more to support the whistleblower. Albanese’s comments reflect the growing frustration with the United States’ pursuit of Assange and the lack of action by the Australian government to support him.
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