Bring Julian Assange home

Julian Assange, the Australian publisher who founded WikiLeaks in 2006, faces 175 years in prison if extradited from the UK to the US.

Assange’s case is the first time in history that a publisher has been indicted under the US Espionage Act, but the Australian government have so far not stepped in to help him.

Perhaps that is about to change, with the revelation by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in November last year that the Australian government would make representations to US government officials on behalf of Assange.

This was a decided shift from the previous government, who steadfastly refused to do anything to assist him, claiming that they couldn’t interfere in the US or UK legal system. That was a load rubbish.

Australia had stepped in when Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert was imprisoned in Iran for espionage. They had stepped in to free Dr Sean Turnell from jail in Myanmar. They had made repeated pleas to China , where a journalist and an academic remain in detention.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the previous government were sacrificing Assange to maintain relationships with the US and the UK. This was was cowardly act, and shows the LNP’s lack of ability in international affairs.

Albanese is taking a stronger approach. The US government always steps in when one of their citizens is imprisoned anywhere in the world. There were no repercussions to the UK or Canada after they stepped in when their citizens were imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. There is no reason Australia can’t step in for Assange.

So what exactly is Assange accused of doing?

In 2010, he released almost a quarter of a million documents that showed showed US espionage against the United Nations and other world leaders, revealed tensions between the U.S. and its allies, and exposed corruption in countries throughout the world as documented by U.S. diplomats, helping to spark the Arab Spring.

The so-called “Cablegate” and Iraq and Afghan War releases impacted diplomacy and public opinion globally, with responses varying by region. In short, it embarrassed the US.

The documents were given to him by US Amy intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was sentenced in 2010 for 35 years until her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017.

Assange redacted all names that he felt might cause problems, and the US conceded that no operatives had been harmed or killed as a result of the leak.

The US launched an investigation into Assange, who was living in the UK at the time, but had no grounds for extradition under UK law, as no charges had been laid.

Out of the blue, in November 2010, Sweden sought extradition of Assange on sexual misconduct allegations. Under Swedish law, they could have extradited him to the US if the US had applied for extradition. Sweden’s extradition request was granted, and Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy.

Sweden dropped their investigation into Assange in 2019, admitting that their evidence against him was weak. They had never laid any charges against him.

In April of 2019, Ecuador withdrew their asylum for Assange, and invited British police into the embassy to arrest him for breaching bail while he was awaiting an appeal against his extradition to Sweden – an extradition the Swedish no longer wanted.

He was sentence to 50 weeks in prison for breaching bail, a rather harsh sentence considering that the original extradition order he had been bailed for was never warranted in the first place.

While serving this 50 weeks, the US sought extradition, even though they had previously stated they would not be doing so. He was the first publisher in US history to be indicted under the Espionage Act, and other journalists involved in the matter were not charged.

On 4 January 2021, the UK courts ruled against extradition to the US, but refused to allow him to leave prison, even though his 50 week prison sentence had finished. He was confined to prison while the US appealed against the UK’s previous decision not to extradite him.

In December 2021, the High Court in London granted the extradition to the US, and the extradition was approved by the Home Secretary in June 2022. Assange immediately appealed the extradition.

He was again denied bail, and is currently being held in prison in the UK despite completing his sentence for breaching bail, and despite having been convicted of no other crimes.

He has been in prison for almost four years, apart from the seven years he was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy. The prospects of a US win are not that good.

The UK Court noted that Assange’s mental health was such that he could not stand trial in the US, and his current medical assessments show the same.

One only has to look at the fact that the Pentagon Papers case against Daniel Ellsberg failed on similar grounds.

Albanese is right to make formal application to the US for them to drop the charges against Assange. Assange has endured enough, and the precedent of imprisoning a journalist for doing their job is an attack on democracy and free speech.

It’s time to bring Julian Assange home.

Craig Hill is a Brisbane-based Social Justice Campaigner, Writer, Teacher and Business Consultant. He has campaigned for social justice in Australia, promoted human rights in China and worked with the homeless in Honolulu. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Education and a degree in Management.