Australian MPs to lobby US to drop Assange prosecution

• A group of Australian MPs will visit the US on September 20 to try and prevent the extradition of Julian Assange.
• Assange faces 18 charges in the US related to WikiLeaks’ release of classified documents.
• A majority of Australians support Assange’s return to his home country.
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A group of Australian Members of Parliament (MPs) has announced their intention to visit the United States on September 20 to try and prevent the extradition of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

This bipartisan delegation, led by former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and government MP Tony Zappia, will engage with American politicians and officials in Washington D.C. to advocate for the abandonment of extradition efforts against Assange.

Assange, who is an Australian citizen, faces 18 charges in the US related to WikiLeaks’ release of classified documents from 2010 concerning the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and diplomatic cables.

He has been incarcerated in the United Kingdom since 2019 and is currently appealing a UK High Court decision from June 2022 that allowed his extradition.

In response to this development, Gabriel Shipton, Assange’s brother, stated that a significant majority of Australians support Assange’s return to his home country.

In August, a group consisting of nine former federal, state, and territory attorneys-general penned an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, expressing concerns about Julian Assange’s treatment and urging stronger efforts to secure his release.

Albanese, in a May interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, expressed his frustration with the absence of a diplomatic resolution to the Assange matter.

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