Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Julian Assange has now spent over a thousand days in England's maximum-security Belmarsh prison whilst the US attempts to extradite him to face 18 charges which carry a possible 175-year prison sentence. He has not been a free man for over a decade and his health is fragile. His alleged crime is that he published classified US military documents which exposed US war atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. In December the UK high court ruled that Assange could be extradited. Assange is now appealing to Britain's Supreme Court.

Assange is an Australian citizen. His alleged offences did not take place in the US, nor were they illegal in Britain or Australia. Support for his release continues to grow with national identity Dick Smith, medical professionals, right- and left-leaning media commentators, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and former Integrity Commissioner Michael Griffin, who was himself a past military man and Director of Military Prosecutions, all adding their voices. However, we hear nothing from the Prime Minister.

Assange is being persecuted because he humiliated the US, and the US now wants retribution. Even people who were critical of Assange's actions say he has suffered enough. I urge the Prime Minister to follow the lead of Prime Minister John Howard in the David Hicks case and negotiate Assange's release.