ASSANGE. “WANTED” OR “NEEDED”?
BREAKING NEWS:
Actor Anthony LaPaglia has lashed out at the Australian government over its lack of support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The star of Without A Trace also appears in the upcoming telemovie about Assange’s early life, Underground, which has been invited to screen at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.Directed by award-winning filmmaker Robert Connolly (Balibo), it will screen on Network Ten later this year.
LaPaglia told AAP he is a fan of Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after obtaining diplomatic asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.
He said Assange’s presumption of innocence was being overlooked.
“I happen to be a fan (of Assange),” LaPaglia told AAP.
“I’m all for free speech and old-school journalism; it’s telling it like it is. This is others suppressing the truth and suppressing information to the public.
“I am a little dismayed by the (Australian) government’s lack of effort here.He’s an Australian citizen and you are innocent until proven guilty.
“They (the Australian government) have the American cattle prod in their back and are sort of dancing to that tune.
“What happens to the fact you’re an Australian citizen?”
Award-winning filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone contributed this opinion piece to The New York Times this week:
“We have spent our careers as filmmakers making the case that the news media in the United States often fail to inform Americans about the uglier actions of our own government. We therefore have been deeply grateful for the accomplishments of WikiLeaks, and applaud Ecuador’s decision to grant diplomatic asylum to its founder, Julian Assange, who is now living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
Ecuador has acted in accordance with important principles of international human rights. Indeed, nothing could demonstrate the appropriateness of Ecuador’s action more than the British government’s threat to violate a sacrosanct principle of diplomatic relations and invade the embassy to arrest Mr. Assange.
Since WikiLeaks’ founding, it has revealed the “Collateral Murder” footage that shows the seemingly indiscriminate killing of Baghdad civilians by a United States Apache attack helicopter; further fine-grained detail about the true face of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; United States collusion with Yemen’s dictatorship to conceal our responsibility for bombing strikes there; the Obama administration’s pressure on other nations not to prosecute Bush-era officials for torture; and much more.
Predictably, the response from those who would prefer that Americans remain in the dark has been ferocious. Top elected leaders from both parties have called Mr. Assange a “high-tech terrorist.” And Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who leads the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has demanded that he be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. Most Americans, Britons and Swedes are unaware that Sweden has not formally charged Mr. Assange with any crime. Rather, it has issued a warrant for his arrest to question him about allegations of sexual assault in 2010.
All such allegations must be thoroughly investigated before Mr. Assange moves to a country that might put him beyond the reach of the Swedish justice system. But it is the British and Swedish governments that stand in the way of an investigation, not Mr. Assange.
Swedish authorities have traveled to other countries to conduct interrogations when needed, and the WikiLeaks founder has made clear his willingness to be questioned in London. Moreover, the Ecuadorean government made a direct offer to Sweden to allow Mr. Assange to be interviewed within Ecuador’s embassy. In both instances, Sweden refused.
Mr. Assange has also committed to traveling to Sweden immediately if the Swedish government pledges that it will not extradite him to the United States. Swedish officials have shown no interest in exploring this proposal, and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt recently told a legal adviser to Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks unequivocally that Sweden would not make such a pledge. The British government would also have the right under the relevant treaty to prevent Mr. Assange’s extradition to the United States from Sweden, and has also refused to pledge that it would use this power. Ecuador’s attempts to facilitate that arrangement with both governments were rejected.
Taken together, the British and Swedish governments’ actions suggest to us that their real agenda is to get Mr. Assange to Sweden. Because of treaty and other considerations, he probably could be more easily extradited from there to the United States to face charges. Mr. Assange has every reason to fear such an outcome.The Justice Department recently confirmed that it was continuing to investigate WikiLeaks, and just-disclosed Australian government documents from this past February state that “the U.S. investigation into possible criminal conduct by Mr. Assange has been ongoing for more than a year.” WikiLeaks itself has published e-mails from Stratfor, a private intelligence corporation, which state that a grand jury has already returned a sealed indictment of Mr. Assange. And history indicates Sweden would buckle to any pressure from the United States to hand over Mr. Assange. In 2001 the Swedish government delivered two Egyptians seeking asylum to the C.I.A., which rendered them to the Mubarak regime, which tortured them.
If Mr. Assange is extradited to the United States, the consequences will reverberate for years around the world. Mr. Assange is not an American citizen, and none of his actions have taken place on American soil. If the United States can prosecute a journalist in these circumstances, the governments of Russia or China could, by the same logic, demand that foreign reporters anywhere on earth be extradited for violating their laws. The setting of such a precedent should deeply concern everyone, admirers of WikiLeaks or not.
We urge the people of Britain and Sweden to demand that their governments answer some basic questions: Why do the Swedish authorities refuse to question Mr. Assange in London? And why can neither government promise that Mr. Assange will not be extradited to the United States? The citizens of Britain and Sweden have a rare opportunity to make a stand for free speech on behalf of the entire globe.”
Discuss…
21 Responses to this article
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moorie August 23, 2012
I cannot begin to tell you how sick to death I am of this man’s name, if he is so innocent then go and face the music, I the USA wants him they will find a way to get him regardless of where he hides. He does not deserve any better treatment than any other individual….. I know I am probably in the minority here but that is how I feel. Get his head off the front page and the news bulletins.
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The Huntress August 23, 2012
Nicely said, Monique! We NEED Julian Assange and the work of Wikileaks As stated this situation could be solved so easily if Sweden followed their own standard procedure in relation to questioning people, or if Sweden could pledge to not extradite Assange to the US when they’ve finished with him, or the US could make a public statement that they’ve no interest and will not attempt to extradite him.
Determination and unity. I will not let this slip from my conscious.
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Carol August 23, 2012
Dear Moorie you need to educate yourself regarding this matter. Julian Assange has already “faced the music” in Sweden & the Swedish Government found no grounds to charge him & also gave him permission to leave the country. The backflip is curious. ABC Four Corners have a good program on this. ALSO there is video footage of US military killing civilians in war zones & people are more up in arms about the ‘leaking’ of this than the actual ‘killing’. Why aren’t you angry or ‘sick to death’ about ‘collateral damage’ & other atrocities? More investigation & compassion from everyone please.
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JoanneH August 23, 2012
I can’t understand why Wikileaks could expose many cables between Australia and USA featuring Kim Beazley, while Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd and his Government, but nothing about the Coalition. I was looking forward to some light being shone on the Wheat Board scandal which Alexander Downer said he had no knowledge of, ‘children overboard’ or SIEVX I may be wrong, but I feel they may have been a bit selective about what was released.
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Christine August 25, 2012
Yes, we haven’t heard about Wheat Board, siev x, and other matters fully, I believe.
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Janet August 23, 2012
Love Leunig’s take on this. Good for him. It is so much easier for authority to treat us like mushrooms.
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Susan August 23, 2012
I outlined my opinions in response to Monica Attards article-along similar lines.
Maybe Moorie has a point…..The more exposure the less regards for this complicated set of circumstances. I don’t normally believe in conspiracy theories But the only advantage that Julian Assange has is that he has made this public. There is a very shady and self concious dance going on here and Equador is providing “check” in this game. Bradley Manning is the meat in the sandwich.The English,The Swedish and the USA have had their bluff called on all fronts and don’t seem to have anywhere to go. Here’s hoping that one of them has the guts to back off. Not holding my breath……. -
Julia August 23, 2012
Moorie, have you even read any of the details surrounding the situation, or even the above letter?? Watch the “Collateral Murder” footage and tell me you feel comfortable with innocent victims, some children nonetheless, and reuters journalists being gunned down for no reason like they are in a video game. They are human beings, those journalists went to work to bring the world footage and got killed in the process. We need wikileaks. We need julian assange. And Susan is right, they’ve called the bluff of Sweden, UK and USA. Thank god for Equador. Watch the ABC Four Corners Video and you may understand the situation better and perhaps take a little more time out of your day to comprehend why this man is appearing on the front cover of your newspaper.
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Lydia August 23, 2012
I think it’s complicated – I really don’t know why the US didn’t ask for him, if they want him so much, before he went to the Ecuadorean embassy. Does anyone know?
And, while I sympathise with all the hand wringing about him, does anyone even know the name(s) of the persons who ‘leaked’ the information to WikiLeaks? Last I heard there was at least one person languishing in a US gaol. Now, where’s the massive international support for them?
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The Huntress August 23, 2012
Yes, Lydia. Assange has not broken any US laws, so can’t call for him to be extradited. The only way they can get him is if they can provide a link between Assange and Manning (assuming that Manning is found guilty) existed prior to information exchanging hands. To publicise classified information that was freely and anonymously given is not illegal under US law, but coercing or intimidating someone to supplying that information is.
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Julia August 23, 2012
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Bridget August 23, 2012
Bradley Manning- why have we forgotten him? Imagine how he feels right now.
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The Huntress August 23, 2012
We haven’t forgotten Manning, Bridget, there are many people fighting on his behalf too.
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Pamela August 23, 2012
Agree with so many comments above….this is indeed a witch hunt. This man has not been charged with a crime, and yet various powers are moving heaven and earth to get at him. Big Brother is alive and well and our lives are not our own!
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moiby August 25, 2012
If Wikileaks has taught us anything, it’s taught us how to pronounce Assange.
(I’m not that funny – that’s from Shaun Micallef).
