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ASSANGE EXTRADITION FIGHT

WIKILEAKS

‘We are not interested in Assange’: US envoy

The US ambassador to Australia has dismissed suggestions Washington wants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradited to America, as his mother on Thursday accused Canberra of failing to help her son.

Published: 31 May 2012 08:09 CEST
'We are not interested in Assange': US envoy

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Assange, an Australian national, can be extradited to Sweden, although his deportation was put on hold to give his lawyers a final chance to reopen the case.

Assange is wanted by Stockholm over sex crime allegations but he fears

being sent to Sweden could pave the way for extradition to the US on possible

espionage or conspiracy charges.

But the US ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, said there was no plan to seek his extradition from Sweden.

“It’s not something that the US cares about. It’s not interested in it,” he told state broadcaster ABC in comments aired Thursday.

“And frankly if he is in Sweden then there is a less robust extradition relationship than there is between the US and the UK.

“So I think it’s one of those narratives that has been made up. There is nothing to it.”

Close US ally Australia has come under pressure from Assange’s supporters to provide him with more support after Prime Minister Julia Gillard previously slammed WikiLeaks as “grossly irresponsible”.

His mother claimed Canberra had done the bare minimum.

“(They have been) absolutely useless, in fact contrary to help, they’ve done everything they can to smear Julian and hand him up to the US,” she told the ABC from London after jetting out this week for the court verdict.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr rejected the criticism, saying 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, adding that Australia’s hands were tied.

“We can’t interfere with the legal processes of another country,” Carr said.

The former computer hacker has been fighting deportation since his arrest

in London in December 2010 on the European arrest warrant issued by Sweden.

The 40-year-old does not deny having sex with two WikiLeaks volunteers in Sweden while attending a seminar, but insists it was consensual and argues there are political motives behind the attempts to extradite him.

Britain’s Supreme Court is his final avenue of appeal under British law, after

two lower courts ruled he should be sent to Sweden for questioning.

The court ruled on Wednesday that Assange can be extradited, but put his deportation on hold to give his lawyers a final 14 days to reopen the case.

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SPAIN

Spanish ring ‘tried to extort €3m from Wikileaks’: Assange lawyers

Julian Assange's lawyers have filed a court complaint in Spain against a group of Spaniards they allege extorted the WikiLeaks founder and Ecuador's foreign ministry, a source in his defence team said on Saturday.

Published: 27 April 2019 15:22 CEST
Spanish ring 'tried to extort €3m from Wikileaks': Assange lawyers
A video grab shows Julian Assange being driven away by British police after his arrest. Photo: AFP
Assange, who for seven years lived holed up in London's Ecuadoran embassy where he had taken refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape accusations, was arrested on April 11 after Quito terminated his asylum.
   
The 47-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, which exposed everything from US military secrets to the wealthy's tax evasion, is now awaiting sentencing for breaching his British bail conditions in 2012.
 
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said the complaint was against “a group of Spaniards who allegedly engaged in extortion and the embassy's employees and Ecuador's foreign ministry.”
   
The source added an investigation was ongoing and alleged “espionage” in the embassy against Assange, refusing to give further details.
 
According to Spanish media reports, four Spaniards have videos and personal documents of Assange. Online daily eldiario.es said they somehow got these via an alleged spying system set up in the embassy that included security cameras and employees taking photos of all documents handled by Assange.
   
They allegedly tried to extort three million euros ($3.3 million) out of WikiLeaks not to publish any of it, Spanish media report.
   
Eldiario.es, which had access to the written complaint that was filed to Spain's top-level National Court, says Assange's lawyers also accuse Ecuador of spying on him. The National Court could not comment when contacted by AFP.
 
That contrasts with Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno's version of events. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he alleged Assange had tried to set up a “centre for spying” in Ecuador's embassy.
   
Last year, Quito cut his internet and mobile phone access, accusing him of breaking “a written commitment” not to interfere in its and allies' foreign policies.
   
The move infuriated Assange, who sued the government for violating his “fundamental rights” by limiting his access to the outside world.
   
Now in prison in Britain, Assange is also fighting a US extradition warrant relating to the release by WikiLeaks of a huge cache of official documents.
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