The Albanian government has insisted it will not conduct “megaphone diplomacy” as it faces calls to do more to prevent the extradition of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the United States.
On Saturday, British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of Assange to the United States, where he is accused of violating the US Espionage Act and faces up to 175 years in prison if convicted. He has 14 days to appeal the decision.
Supporters of the Australian citizen, including in the back of Labor, called on new Prime Minister Anthony Olbanez to do more to pressure the United States to end the case, which has been ongoing since 2010, when WikiLeaks published a number of leaked documents on the Afghan war. and Iraq along with diplomatic telegrams.
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said the government was of the opinion that the case had lasted too long and that talks were under way.
“We will not conduct diplomacy through a megaphone. This case lasted too long. We said that in opposition, we repeated this in the government, “Burke told Sky News on Sunday.
“It simply came to our notice then. Australia is not a party to the prosecution that is taking place here [and] each country has its own legal system.
“The days of diplomacy and megaphone talks with the government, the disclosure of text messages – this was the way the previous government behaved. We are once again building constructive relations with our allies, and these are talks that are taking place between the government. “
Timeline
The extradition battle of Julian Assange
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June 2010 – October 2010
WikiLeaks has published about 470,000 classified military documents relating to US diplomacy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He later released an additional tranche of more than 250,000 secret US diplomatic telegrams.
November 2010
A Swedish prosecutor has issued a European arrest warrant for Assange on charges of sexual assault involving two Swedes. Assange denies the allegations.
February 2011
A British judge has ruled that Assange could be extradited to Sweden. Assange fears that Sweden will hand him over to US authorities, who could pursue him.
November 2016
Assange was questioned in a two-day interview about allegations at the Ecuadorian embassy by Swedish authorities.
January 2018
Britain has refused Ecuador’s request for diplomatic status for Assange, which would allow him to leave the embassy without being arrested.
April 11, 2019
Police arrested Assange at the embassy on behalf of the United States after his asylum was withdrawn. He has been charged by the United States with “a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to crack the US government’s classified computer password.”
February 24, 2020
Assange’s extradition hearing begins in Woolwich Court in south-east London. After a week of introductory remarks, the extradition case will be adjourned until May. Additional delays have been caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
September 15, 2020
A four-week hearing begins in Old Bailey, with the U.S. government arguing that Assange tried to recruit hackers to find classified government information.
January 4, 2021
A British judge has ruled that Assange cannot be extradited to the United States. The United States is appealing the decision.
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Labor MP Julian Hill, who was Assange’s vocal advocate, described Patel’s decision to approve the extradition as “appalling” and compared his plight to military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was the source of the leak.
“Manning, who leaked secret material revealing US war crimes, has been pardoned, but Assange, who published it (journalistic activity), faces an effective death sentence,” he said on Twitter on Saturday.
“There can never be a legal solution to this case. It is political in nature. Political affairs should never be extradited. We must speak on behalf of our Australian colleague and demand that these allegations be dropped and that he not be extradited.
Manning was released in 2017 after Barack Obama replaced her 35-year military sentence in one of his most recent acts as president.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie called on Olbanese to make an immediate and direct appeal to US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on behalf of Assange.
“I have no doubt that Anthony Olbanez has enough influence over the British prime minister to put an end to this if he picks up the phone and says ‘stop this madness,'” Wilkie said Saturday.
“I have no doubt that Anthony Olbanez has a good enough relationship with Joe Biden to pick up the phone of the President of the United States and say ‘end this madness.’
Karen Percy, federal president of the media, entertainment and arts alliance, said Assange’s potential extradition to the United States was a “dangerous attack on international journalism.”
“We call on the new Australian government to act on behalf of Julian Assange and lobby for his release,” Percy said.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who was also a staunch supporter of Assange, said the new government should put pressure on the United States to drop the case, saying it did not believe a soft diplomatic approach would be enough to secure his release.
“The new government needs to make a clear statement, because if you talk riddles, you say absolutely nothing,” Joyce told the Guardian Australia.
He said that while he was trying to gain support for Assange, “I had a different position from the previous government.”
In a joint statement Friday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus responded to the extradition decision.
“We will continue to convey our expectations that Mr Assange has the right to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to appropriate medical care and access to his legal team,” the statement said.
“The Australian Government has made it clear, in our view, that Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and needs to be closed.
“We will continue to express this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States.
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