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Australia calls for US to drop WikiLeaks charges

30 November 2022
27961
2022-11-30 19:35

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday he recently told U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to bring the prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder to a close. Albanese’s comments to Parliament appear to be an escalation of Australia’s diplomatic pressure on the United States to drop spying charges against Australian citizen Julian Assange. The 51-year-old is resisting extradition from Britain.

Anthony Albanese, Australia's Prime Minister said "I have raised this personally with representatives of the United States Government. My position is clear, and has been made clear to the US administration, that it is time that this matter be brought to a close. This is an Australian citizen, as I said I don't have sympathy for Mr. Assange's actions on a whole range of matters, but having said that, you have to reach a point whereby what is the point of this continuing this legal action, which could be caught up now for many years into the future."

Albanese did not say whether he discussed Assange directly with Biden when the pair held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines a Cambodian summit two weeks ago. But Albanese said he had advocated for Assange “recently in meetings.”

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