Distinguished Intellectuals, Professors, Officers and Politicians in Letter to Australian Foreign Minister: Highly Concerned Over Sweden's Prospective Rendition of Assange to US

Read also on this topic "Protect Julian Assange from US rendition"

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP 

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Parliament House ACT 2600

Dear Minister 

We write to express our concern about the plight of Julian Assange.

To date, no charges have been laid against Mr Assange by Swedish authorities. Nonetheless, we understand that should he be sent to Sweden, he will be held on remand, incommunicado. We note your comments last year about the need for Mr Assange to receive appropriate consular support. We trust that this consular support is being provided and will continue.

We are concerned that should Mr Assange be placed in Swedish custody, he will be subject to the process of "temporary surrender", enabling his removal to the United States without the appropriate legal processes that accompany normal extradition cases. We urge you to convey to the Swedish government Australia's expectation that Mr Assange will be provided with the same rights of appeal and review that any standard extradition request would entail.

Any prosecution of Mr Assange in the United States will be on the basis of his activities as a journalist and editor (Mr Assange's status as such has been recently confirmed by the High Court in England). Such a prosecution will be a serious assault on freedom of speech and the need for an unfettered, independent media.

Further, the chances of Mr Assange receiving a fair trial in the United States appear remote. A number of prominent political figures have called for him to be assassinated, and the Vice-President has called him a "high-tech terrorist". Given the atmosphere of hostility in relation to Mr Assange, we hold serious concerns about his safety once in US custody. We note that Mr Assange is an Australian citizen, whose journalistic activities were undertaken entirely outside of US territory.

Mr Assange is entitled to the best endeavours of his government to ensure he is treated fairly. He is entitled to expect that his government will not remain silent while his liberty and safety are placed at risk by a government embarrassed by his journalism. Australians also expect that their government will speak out against efforts to silence the media and intimidate those who wish to hold governments to account.

We ask that you convey clearly to the United States government Australia's concerns about any effort to manufacture charges against Mr Assange, or to use an unrelated criminal investigation as the basis for what may effectively be rendition. 

We also urge the government to publicly affirm that Mr Assange is welcome to return to Australia once proceedings against him in Sweden are concluded, and that the government will fully protect his rights as an Australian citizen once here. We have copied this letter to your colleague, the Attorney-General.

Yours sincerely

The undersigned

Phillip Adams AO 

Adam Bandt MP 

Wendy Bacon [Professor]

Greg Barns
Susan Benn 

Senator Bob Brown 

Dr Scott Burchill 

Julian Burnside QC 

Dr Leslie Cannold 

Mike Carlton 

Professor Noam Chomsky 

David Collins

Lieutenant Colonel (ret) Lance Collins, Australian Intelligence Corps 

Eva Cox [writer, feminist, sociologist]
Sophie Cunningham 

Roy David 

Andrew Denton 

Senator Richard Di Natale 

Peter Fitzsimons
Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH 

Anna Funder 

Professor Raimond Gaita 

David Gilmour and Polly Samson 

Kara Greiner
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young 

Liz Humphrys 

Professor Sarah Joseph 

Bernard Keane
Professor John Keane 

Stephen Keim SC 

Steve Killelea 

Andrew Knight
Mary Kostakidis 

Professor Theo van Leeuwen 

Ken Loach 

Antony Loewenstein 

Senator Scott Ludlam

David Lyle 

Associate Professor Jake Lynch 

Dr Ken Macnab 

Professor Robert Manne 

Alex Miller 

Senator Christine Milne 

Alex Mitchell 

Reg Mombassa 

Gordon Morris J

ane Morris J

ulian Morrow 

The Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC 

Nicolé Nolan 

Rebecca O’Brien 

Elizabeth O’Shea 

Michael Pearce SC 

John Pilger 

Justin Randle 

Senator Lee Rhiannon 

Guy Rundle 

Angus Sampson 

Senator Rachel Siewert 

Marius Smith 

Jeff Sparrow 

Professor Stuart Rees AM 

Rob Stary 

Stephen Thompson 

Dr Tad Tietze 

Mike Unger 

Dale Vince 

Brian Walters SC 

Rachel Ward 

Senator Larissa Waters 

Tracy Worcester, Marchioness of Worcester 

Senator Penny Wright 

Spencer Zifcak

Wikileaks, J Assange, Assange,  yttrandehefrihet,  tryckfrihet, transperans, wikileaks, intressant,
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