Letter to PM Albanese calling for action on Assange

The Hon Anthony Albanese, MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House,
Canberra   ACT   2600

Via email and post: Anthony.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au

Dear Prime Minister

As we have previously conveyed to you, the Alliance Against Political Prosecutions (AAPP) is extremely concerned about Julian Assange’s incarceration in Belmarsh Prison and the charges against him by the US, as well as the extradition proceedings.

Before the election, you gave the distinct impression that you would take action to try and secure Julian Assange’s release and his return to Australia. “Enough is enough… this has gone on long enough” were your words. There is no indication that you have done anything to fulfil that commitment, not even a statement that you have spoken to the British Prime Minister or President Biden about the matter.  Was that just talk to help win the election?

It may be the case that President Biden does not want to do anything that could be used against the Democrats before the mid-term elections in November, but it is critical that the extradition is not approved, so speaking to the British PM and the candidates for his replacement, is urgent. The US action to discontinue the prosecution could be delayed until after the mid-term elections.

The Australian government must not allow the extradition process to continue and for him to be taken, probably to die, in America. Relying on getting him back to serve his sentence in Australia, if that is what you are doing, is not good enough.

We urge you to take up Assange’s case as a matter of urgency with the UK and the US governments at the highest levels for the following reasons:

·      Reporting war crimes must not be a crime, else what does that say about our morality?  Assange has committed no crime. The US are no doubt angry that Wikileaks passed on the information about the crimes in Iraq, Guantanamo and Afghanistan, and other information embarrassing to the US, but that does not justify this inhumane and unjust treatment of him.  He is being punished through the long drawn out process, and if he is sent to the US, he faces many years more in jail before he would be sentenced. He would quite likely not survive that process.   

·      Journalists everywhere are reportedly being intimidated already by this case, so democracy everywhere is under threat from it. The US prosecutors have admitted in court that this case has become a precedent for future prosecutions of journalists. In February 2021, an open letter to the Biden administration was signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, The American Civil Liberties Union and a dozen other high profile organisations. They said, “We share the view that the government’s indictment of Assange poses a grave threat to press freedom, both in the United States and abroad… because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in routinely.” 

·      In Australia, a March 2021 resolution from the ACTU, which represents around 2 million workers, said, “The charges against Assange relate entirely to his work, which brought to light serious war crimes committed by the US Military in Iraq. Continuing to prosecute him for this work constitutes an attack on journalists, journalism and the public right to know. We urge the Australian Government to do all in its power to lobby US authorities to end their prosecution.”

·      Assange has been in prison or detention now for more than ten years, which is more than many violent criminals, but Assange is a man of peace who has never acted for his own personal gain. He has not received the health care he needs in Belmarsh prison, particularly since he suffered a mini-stroke last year. The judge in the UK found that “the mental condition of Mr Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America”.  It would be more than ‘oppressive’, rather, a death sentence.  

·      One of the main witnesses for the prosecution, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, has been convicted for abuse of minors and financial fraud, and has admitted that he lied in his accusations in the indictment against Assange, in return for an immunity from prosecution deal. The US does not have a case, because no crime has been committed.

·      It has been reported that 30 former US officials have come forward to reveal aggressive spying on Assange and others in the Ecuadorian Embassy, including discussions of options for Julian’s abduction or assassination. This transgressed legal, medical and journalists’ confidentiality.  A case has recently been brought against the CIA and Mike Pompeo for bugging Assange’s lawyers and others in the embassy. Who are the criminals here?

·      The treatment of Assange has been described as psychological torture by the former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Prof Nils Melzer. “By British standards, fifty weeks in prison for a bail violation is a completely disproportionate sanction. The vast majority of bail violations that do not involve the perpetration of additional serious offences are punished with fines or disciplinary sanctions. Even if a bail violation were to result in a short custodial sentence, that sentence would certainly not be served in a high-security setting amounting to solitary confinement. Except in the case of Julian Assange”, (p. 49, The Trial of Julian Assange, by Nils Melzer).

·      Further, why was Julian not released on bail after the judge refused the extradition and before the appeal by the US was heard?  It is clear that this is a political prosecution and that Julian is being punished severely for daring to make public US war crimes. Indeed, why has he been imprisoned at all, as he is clearly not a criminal or a danger to society, rather the opposite.

·      The Co-chair of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group, a cross party parliamentary group, Andrew Wilkie MP, said, “The US’s pursuit of Mr Assange is obviously not in the public interest and must be dropped”.  These sentiments are echoed by similar parliamentary groups around the world.  And many other people, such as the acclaimed whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, whose leak of the Pentagon Papers exposed US government lies and helped end the Vietnam war, have spoken out in support of Assange and free speech.  Just last month on the ABC, Ellsberg argued that the only way to gain Julian’s freedom was for the Australian government to advocate on his behalf. What the world sees in this persecution, that is, grave injustice, should make it obvious to the US that it is not in their interests to pursue Mr Assange any further.

·      If Julian Assange is taken to the US to stand trial under the US Espionage Act, does that mean that anyone anywhere in the world who transgresses the law of another country, can be spirited off to that country for trial?  Or is it only the US that can apply this ‘law’? This is not the ‘rule of law’ that democracy everywhere needs, but rather a travesty of justice.  

·      If Julian is extradited to the US, many Australians and people worldwide who were placing their hopes in your government for justice and his release, will have their hopes dashed and belief in your government’s values of justice and democracy seriously eroded.  

Australia has always been a good friend of both the UK and the USA.  We have given much over the decades to assist them.  It is little enough to demand that they put an end to Assange’s extradition and the charges against him.  While the Australian government may itself have fears of CIA retaliation (justified or unjustified), it cannot allow such fears to dictate Australia’s actions. If it does, our sovereignty no longer exits.

We hope you as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Wong and the rest of our government will be able to rise to this challenge and demonstrate that the Australian government is indeed a government which places the highest priority on integrity, justice and democracy.  Australia’s international reputation will suffer greatly if Julian ends up in America, and so will our sovereignty and democracy.

We seek a meeting with you, and if that is not possible, with your adviser, to discuss these matters.

Yours sincerely,

Kathryn Kelly,

Convenor,  Alliance Against Political Prosecutions

22 August,  2022

Via email, Cc: Foreign Minister, Senator Penny Wong, AG Mark Dreyfus, and others.