'STOP THE EXTRADITION' PROTEST’ 12.30pm, 13 December 2022
Media Release:12 December 2022
'STOP THE EXTRADITION' PROTEST
BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION, CANBERRA
12.30pm, Tuesday 13th December
"He's committed acts of journalism, disclosed war crimes, and thus embarrassed the US government. For the ‘crime’ of exposing these truths to the world, Julian Assange has so far spent 3 years in high security detention in Belmarsh prison outside London, after 7 years confined in the Ecuadorian embassy. The UK government may agree to the USA application to extradite him. The result would be appalling, devastating, an assault on press freedom, and an indictment against all of us who stood by and passively watched this unfold," said Kathryn Kelly, co-convenor of the Alliance Against Political Prosecutions.
"The Prime Minister has said ‘enough is enough’ in relation to Assange’s ongoing detention. We are echoing that call, and this is the time for the UK Government to act.
"The extradition request for Assange is clearly for a ‘political offense’, as his lawyer Jennifer Robinson described so clearly at her recent National Press Club address. The UK Extradition Treaty Article 4 states, “1. Extradition shall not be granted if the offence for which extradition is requested is a political offence.”
"Freedom of the press, including stopping the intimidation of journalists as is happening with this extradition request, requires that this ‘matter to be brought to a close’, as PM Albanese has requested. At the time of his response to Monique Ryan's question in parliament, the British High Commissioner, Victoria Treadell, was reportedly in the visitors' gallery accompanied by the UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, so they cannot be unaware of the Australian government's call.
There is some talk that the US might not object to the case being brought to an end by a UK government refusal of the extradition. We call on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, or Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, to refuse the extradition and put an end to this sorry saga.
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CONTACT: Kathryn Kelly, 0417 269 984
Kathryn Kelly
Co-convenor, Alliance Against Political Prosecutions
0417 269 984
PO Box 549, Curtin, ACT 2605
https://www.facebook.com/Dropwhistleblowerprosecutions/
Twitter: @DProsecutions