Six politicians, including former Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, are planning to hold high-level talks at the US State Department, Justice Department, House of Representatives and Senate in Washington to stop Assange’s extradition to the US.
Monique Ryan, Member of the Australian House of Representatives, who is in the delegation to Washington, said in a statement to the press that they represent politicians who “think it is very important to ensure Assange’s freedom,” and stated that Assange’s health condition is poor.
Within the scope of the delegation’s meetings in the USA, they will also lobby the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and some other non-governmental organizations on the non-extradition of Assangne.
It is noteworthy that the visit in question coincided with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to the White House, scheduled for October.
Assange’s lawsuit
WikiLeaks, founded by Assange, released 251,000 secret documents on October 28, 2010, proving the crimes committed by the USA in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange was taken into custody on 11 April 2019 from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had taken refuge in June 2012, and was arrested for “violating the conditions of release on bail” and placed in the Belmarsh Prison in London.
The court decided that Assange, who was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison, would remain in detention after completing his sentence within the framework of his extradition request.
The Supreme Court ruled on December 10, 2021 that Assange could be extradited to the United States.
With the Westminster Magistrate’s Court ruling on his extradition on April 20, 2022, then Interior Minister Priti Patel signed the decision to extradite Assange to the United States on June 17, 2022.
Assange’s lawyers also filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on July 1, 2022.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has asked the administration of US President Joe Biden to drop the charges against Assange.
Albanese compared Assange’s situation to that of Chelsea Manning, a US soldier who leaked documents to WikiLeaks, and drew attention to the fact that Manning lives freely in the United States, and that the attitude towards Assange is not the same.