‘US has no plans to indict Assange’
1 Jun 2012 7:33 AM GMT
Australia's foreign minister says the United States has given no indication that it plans to indict the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for divulging US secrets.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Thursday that he had spoken to US government officials about Assange's concerns that Washington plans to seek his extradition from Sweden if he loses his court battle to stay in Britain.
Meanwhile, the mother of the Queensland-born 40-year old Assange, who lost his extradition appeal on Wednesday at the British Supreme Court has lashed out at the Australian government for not providing help to her son.
Assange's mother, Christine, flew to London to be with her son for the judgement. ‘[They have been] absolutely useless,’ she was quoted by AAP report on Thursday.
‘They've done everything they can to smear Julian and hand him up to the US,’ she said adding that she believed her son would have greater legal protections if he was fighting the extradition from Australia. However, rejecting the criticism, Carr said Assange was receiving regular visits from Australian consular staff.
‘He gets the full Australian consulate support available to any Australian caught up in the legal processes of another country,’ he said. Australia's hands were tied, he said. ‘We can't interfere with the legal processes of another country,’ he said.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Assange is entitled to ‘the normal consular assistance’ offered to Australians when they are overseas. 'No more and no less.’ Assange had announced plans of running for a seat in the Australian senate in March. A poll
conducted a few weeks back showed that the Wikileaks founder stands a real chance of winning an upper house seat if he presses ahead with plans to stand for election.
A survey conducted by the ruling Labor party’s internal pollsters UMR Research and published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper showed 25 per cent of those polled would vote for the whistleblowing website chief.
Supporters of the left-wing Greens party were most likely to be pro-Assange, with 39 per cent saying they would vote for him, meaning he had a good chance of wresting a Greens senate spot, UMR’s John Utting told the newspaper.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Thursday that he had spoken to US government officials about Assange's concerns that Washington plans to seek his extradition from Sweden if he loses his court battle to stay in Britain.
Meanwhile, the mother of the Queensland-born 40-year old Assange, who lost his extradition appeal on Wednesday at the British Supreme Court has lashed out at the Australian government for not providing help to her son.
Assange's mother, Christine, flew to London to be with her son for the judgement. ‘[They have been] absolutely useless,’ she was quoted by AAP report on Thursday.
‘They've done everything they can to smear Julian and hand him up to the US,’ she said adding that she believed her son would have greater legal protections if he was fighting the extradition from Australia. However, rejecting the criticism, Carr said Assange was receiving regular visits from Australian consular staff.
‘He gets the full Australian consulate support available to any Australian caught up in the legal processes of another country,’ he said. Australia's hands were tied, he said. ‘We can't interfere with the legal processes of another country,’ he said.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Assange is entitled to ‘the normal consular assistance’ offered to Australians when they are overseas. 'No more and no less.’ Assange had announced plans of running for a seat in the Australian senate in March. A poll
conducted a few weeks back showed that the Wikileaks founder stands a real chance of winning an upper house seat if he presses ahead with plans to stand for election.
A survey conducted by the ruling Labor party’s internal pollsters UMR Research and published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper showed 25 per cent of those polled would vote for the whistleblowing website chief.
Supporters of the left-wing Greens party were most likely to be pro-Assange, with 39 per cent saying they would vote for him, meaning he had a good chance of wresting a Greens senate spot, UMR’s John Utting told the newspaper.
Next Story
