By Joe Lauria – Apr 3, 2023
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked point blank whether the prime minister raised Julian Assange with Joe Biden in San Diego last month. Chaos ensued.
Australian citizens "rescued" from unjust "legal" proceedings due to public pressure and Australian government intervention: David Hicks (US), Melinda Taylor (Libya), James Ricketson (Cambodia), Kylie Moore-Gilbert (Iran), Peter Greste (Egypt)… But not Julian Assange? pic.twitter.com/gr9rTi0zdo
— Bean🔥 (@SomersetBean) March 30, 2023
Even John Howard was capable of successfully pressuring the US government to get David Hicks out of Guantanamo Bay & let him come back home. Seems the current government can’t even manage that when it comes to #Assange https://t.co/BNiZJ9kdXx
— Andrew Bartlett (@AndrewBartlett) March 31, 2023
The whole point, of course, is that these "legal processes" are not legitimate. If they were, nobody would be clamoring for his release. The whole point of diplomacy is to go in when processes fail and when processes are as egregiously cruel as they are here.
— Dirty Leftie (@IxatDnats) March 31, 2023
Australia managed to get the US to get David Hicks out of Guantanamo Bay. (And Peter Greste out of an Egyptian jail, Kylie Moore-Gilbert out an Iranian jail & Sean Turnell out of a Myanmar jail). But somehow Assange is stuck – in maximum security, solitary confinement. A disgrace
— Andrew Bartlett (@AndrewBartlett) March 30, 2023
Julian Assange holds Australian citizenship.
Other claims are matters of political belief.
As with our intervention re David Hicks, the time Assange has spent in detention now exceeds a reasonable penalty for the crimes alleged, & he shld be released on humanitarian grounds. https://t.co/sQVGxZhUPI— Australia Defence Association (@austdef) March 30, 2023
Is Wong aware that her sacrosanct rule of law can sometimes be abused by authorities? Or does that concept not exist in her world view or only when dealing with authoritarian regimes?
— Susanne Maier (@gerge42) March 30, 2023
Joe Lauria
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former UN correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and numerous other newspapers. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London and began his professional career as a stringer for The New York Times. He can be reached at joelauria@consortiumnews.com and followed on Twitter @unjoe .
- Joe Lauria#molongui-disabled-linkFebruary 21, 2024
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