Pirate Party Australia are perturbed at yesterday’s ruling by the UK Supreme Court to extradite Julian Assange to Sweden. Contrary to the ignorant prejudicial opinions of Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, he has not been charged with any criminal offence in Sweden or any other country, yet has been held for over 500 days under house arrest.
“The Australian Government’s continued and willful ignorance of US intentions to extradite Mr. Assange, an Australian citizen, possibly on the grounds of espionage and conspiracy, is completely unacceptable. The government must be more active in seeking to ensure the safety of Mr. Assange,” said Simon Frew, Deputy President of Pirate Party Australia. “Our continued alliance with the United States should not be at the expense of the rights of Australian citizens.”
“While the case remains somewhat up in the air, it seems very likely he will face extradition to Sweden,” Mr Frew continued. “There are a number of concerning issues with the legal process. The Supreme Court used the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a document regarding the interpretation and operation of treaties between states, as a basis in their determination. This had not been raised by either side during the proceedings of the appeal. Legal analysis seems to indicate this may give Mr. Assange and his team opportunity to re-open the case.”
“In Sweden the case had been dropped by one prosecutor and picked up by another. The Swedish legal system requires sexual assault cases be held in private, where we expect the right to scrutinise any legal process to see that justice is actually done. Consequently Mr Assange will be held incommunicado and tried in secret once he arrives there.”
“We have to do what we can to support Julian, and organisations like Wikileaks, so we urge everyone who feels the same way to come out to protests around Australia and the world. It is important that we reiterate to our government that whistleblowers and conduit publishing organisations like Wikileaks are essential to the function of any modern democracy and that stronger protections for both are necessary,” he concluded.
There will be several rallies around Australia today in support of Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Pirate Party Australia will be sending speakers to events in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Details for these events can be found here.
The majority of the Court appear to have based their decision on the interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, on which no argument was heard. Mr Assange’s legal team has been given two weeks to apply for a reopening of the case.