On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said that he had personally pleaded with the United States government to abandon its prosecution against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and an Australian citizen.
“The government will continue to act in a diplomatic way, but can I assure the member … that I have raised this personally with representatives of the United States government,” Albanese said.
“My position is clear and has been made clear to the US administration – that it is time that this matter be brought to a close,” the Australian leader added.
Since April 2019, Assange has been detained in London's Belmarsh Prison as the United States of America pursues his extradition for allegedly disclosing government secrets and war crimes. The US Department of Justice has indicted Assange using the Espionage Act for receiving and publishing leaks from whistleblower Chelsea Manning, a standard journalistic practice.
If Assange were to be extradited to the United States, he might be punished for his journalism with a term of up to 175 years in a maximum security prison. The statements made by Albanese came after The New York Times and four prominent European news outlets ultimately sent a letter to the United States government expressing their support for Assange.
The statement may be seen in the letter that was sent out by the five news organisations.
“publishing is not a crime” and that it was time for the US “to end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets.” The letter acknowledged that Assange’s work “in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists.”
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