2023-08-18 14:04:09
However, “we continue to call on the United States to drop all charges,” says Stella Assange
The United States is considering a plea deal that would allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to return to Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, quoted by The Intercept site.
The US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, told the Morning Herald that there could be a “resolution” for Assange’s detention in Britain’s four-year high-security prison while he fights extradition efforts. of the United States, where he would face 18 criminal charges, 17 of which allege violations of the Espionage Law, for the “crime” of revealing the crimes committed by that country by virtue, supposedly, of its alleged fight against terrorism.
However, the journalist’s defenders allege that Assange only complied with his duty to disclose the truth, and that continuing to condemn him constitutes a threat to journalism and press freedom.
In addition, Assange’s health is physically and psychologically deteriorated, and it is considered that his extradition to the United States, under the threat of long prison terms, would constitute a fatal blow to his integrity.
Now Kennedy’s comments come weeks after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken rejected calls by Australia to end the prosecution of Assange. After a July meeting with Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Brisbane, Blinken said Assange was “charged with very serious criminal conduct” over his role in publishing classified US government materials. The files Assange shared in 2010, among other information, included footage of a US airstrike in Baghdad that killed 18 civilians, including journalists, and hundreds of thousands of field reports from the Iraq war, The Intercept reported.
“There is a way to solve it,” Kennedy said of Assange’s arrest, adding that a plea deal would be up “to the Department of Justice.” The Justice Department declined to comment. The State Department did not respond to The Intercept’s request for comment.
“The administration seems to be looking for an exit ramp before the first state visit [del primer ministro] to DC in October,” Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton told The Intercept. “If one is not found, we could see a repeat of a very public rejection delivered by Tony Blinken to the Australian Foreign Minister two weeks ago in Brisbane.”
Dan Rothwell, an international law expert at the Australian National University, told the Morning Herald that he believes a likely outcome would involve US authorities dropping the charges against Assange in exchange for a guilty plea, taking into account the four years. who has already spent in prison.
In May, Kennedy met with a parliamentary delegation from various pro-Assange parties. “The United States and Australia have a very important and close relationship, and it’s time to show it,” Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said at the time.
Assange’s case has raised significant press freedom concerns around the world. “The United States is applying extraterritorial reach in charging Assange, who is not a US citizen and committed no alleged crimes in the US, under its Espionage Act,” a group of former Australian attorneys general wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “We believe this sets a very dangerous precedent and has the potential to put at risk anyone, anywhere in the world, who publishes information that the United States unilaterally deems classified for security reasons.”
As part of the release of WikiLeaks documents, Assange coordinated with outlets including Spain’s El País, France’s Le Monde, the UK’s The Guardian and the New York Times to release classified cables revealing the inner workings of the deal, the diplomacy and threats around the world.
Assange has faced legal pressure since the massive leak of documents in 2010; he claimed asylum in Ecuador in 2012 and lost it before being jailed in London. In June, the Morning Herald reported that the FBI was seeking new information on Assange, disturbing the sense of optimism in Australia that had emerged from Kennedy’s meeting with lawmakers.
The ambassador’s latest comments have renewed the Assange family’s hope of finding a solution to the 13-year limbo they have faced.
“This is a sign that they don’t want this to play out in American courts, particularly during an election cycle,” Shipton told Sky News on Monday, “so the US administration is really looking for a ramp.” exit here for what is an extremely, extremely controversial prosecution of press freedom.”
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, an article with the news of Kennedy’s probable proposal, Stella Assange, lawyer and wife of the unjustly detained journalist, states: “The campaign for #FreeAssange is having an impact, but we continue to ask the US US to drop all charges.”
With information from The Intercept
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