A motion calling for the return of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to Australia has passed the lower house of federal parliament by 86 votes to 42. It was supported by Labor, while most of the opposition coalition opposed the motion.
It was moved by independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who said it “will send a powerful political signal to the British government and to the U.S. government.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament that London High Court’s hearing of Mr. Assange’s appeal were a “critical period.”
“I hope this can be resolved. I hope it can be resolved amicably. It’s not up to Australia to interfere in the legal processes of other countries, but it is appropriate for us to put our very strong view that those countries need to take into account the need for this to be concluded,” he said.
U.S. officials are seeking to extradite Mr. Assange from a British prison to the United States, where he is wanted on criminal charges over WikiLeaks’ release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.
Faces Up to 175 Years In Prison
The 51-year-old is accused of conspiring to hack government computers and of violating an espionage law by releasing of confidential cables through WikiLeaks in 2010 and 2011. He faces up to 175 years in prison, but the U.S. government has said a sentence of between three and six years was more likely.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition in June after Assange was denied an appeal in the Supreme Court appeal in March.
The latest case, to be heard over the next two days (Feb. 20 and Feb. 21) will argue that Mr. Assange is being punished for his political opinions and for speech that is protected under law, and that the extradition would violate the U.S.-UK Extradition Treaty and international law as it relates to what his lawyers call “political offences.”
They will also argue the U.S. government “misrepresented the core facts of the case” to the British courts.
Mr. Wilkie intends to travel to Britain to attend this week’s hearings.
“Whether you worship or loathe Julian Assange, the matter has gone on long enough,” he said.
The Parliamentary motion was supported by Mr. Albanese, who has long been urging the United States to drop the extradition requests and release Assange. He has said he was frustrated at being unable to find a diplomatic solution.
It followed a cross-party delegation of Australian MPs travelling to Washington to lobby U.S. lawmakers for Mr. Assange’s freedom.
“This was a private discussion, however this government’s position on Assange is very clear, and has not changed,” Mr. Dreyfus said in a statement. “It is time this matter is brought to an end.”
Mr. Assange has been in the high-security Belmarsh Prison since 2019. He had previously spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London while trying to seek asylum in the South American country.
If he loses this week’s hearing he will have exhausted all legal remedies in England, and his supporters fear he could be rapidly transferred to the United States before he could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
