Several party MPs distance themselves from leadership backing of Assange, claiming he cannot ‘evade justice’

The Labour leadership’s support for Julian Assange has prompted a new row in the party, with several MPs accusing the frontbench of downplaying the allegations of sexual assault against the WikiLeaks founder.

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, joined Jeremy Corbyn in calling on the government to block Assange’s extradition after he was arrested on behalf of US authorities, who have charged him with involvement in a computer-hacking conspiracy.

She urged Theresa May to intervene in the same way she had in the case of computer hacker Gary McKinnon, when in 2012 as home secretary she halted his extradition to the US on human rights grounds; doctors had warned McKinnon was at risk of suicide if sent for trial in the US. Those powers, however, have been severely limited by subsequent legislation.

Labour backbenchers, including Diana Johnson, Stephen Kinnock, Stephanie Peacock, Siobhain McDonagh and Stella Creasy, have distanced themselves from the leadership by urging Sweden to reopen its investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Assange.

Stephen Kinnock (@SKinnock) Julian Assange stands accused of rape, in Sweden. It is critically important that we all remember this, before all else. It would be deeply troubling if the possibility that Mr Assange may be guilty of sexual violence were to be air-brushed out of the conversation. https://t.co/T022XRUTfJ

Stephanie Peacock (@Steph_Peacock) The woman who has accused Assange of rape has asked for charges to be resumed. It is absolutely right he should face the full force of the law. https://t.co/Qa391XTRK4

Siobhain McDonagh MP (@Siobhain_MP) Hi @Isobel_waby! Lovely to hear from you but the charges are not dropped. Mr Assange has evaded them for the last 7 years. I have a great deal of respect for Sweden & it’s judicial system. He needs to be subject to their process’s. Allegations of rape matter. https://t.co/FIZkSe2k6X

stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) This thread is everything you need to know about why Julian Assange case and why the right thing to do is ensure if the Swedish authorities request his extradition that case is prioritised. https://t.co/zyGbiMrBs9

Johnson said she was very disappointed that Abbott did not mention that Assange initially took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One she said: “The Labour party needs to be very clear that if there are allegations of rape and sexual assault they need to be taken seriously and due process needs to be gone through, and people cannot hide away in the way that Assange has done for seven years evading justice.

“Jeremy [Corbyn] and Diane [Abbott] have to answer for themselves, but as a Labour MP, and talking to many other Labour MPs, we believe very strongly that Julian Assange should go through the criminal processes and Sweden, I hope they will reopen that case, and he will be extradited to Sweden to face those allegations. That has to be the only way of dealing with this.”

Meanwhile Assange’s lawyers confirmed that US prosecutors have 65 days to submit a full set of charges, raising the prospect of additional criminal allegations being introduced that would result in a far longer sentence.

In a statement issued on Friday, his legal team confirmed he would resist the extradition which sets a “dangerous precedent where any journalist could face US charges for publishing truthful information about the United States”. Jennifer Robinson, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, added: “The US now has 65 days to submit its full extradition request.”

Assange is due to appear in court by video link on 2 May for a bail hearing. He is separately scheduled to appear at Southwark crown court in the coming weeks to be sentenced for breaching his bail conditions.

On Friday, Greg Barns, Assange’s Australian lawyer, also warned that the final US charge sheet could result in Assange spending far longer in prison than the five years maximum permitted by the sole conspiracy charge he currently faces.

“We know that the United States has a practice of extraditing people and then loading up the indictment with further charges. It is hard to imagine that the grand jury would have sat for 10 years, and they’ve spent millions of dollars on this matter, and they simply charge him with an offence which carries a maximum penalty of only five years.”

Barns said it would be a “great idea” to send Assange to Australia. “The extradition treaty between Australia and the US is a little more rigorous in the sense that the US would have to show that it has some form of prima facie case against Julian Assange.”

Sweden is reviewing whether to reactivate its extradition case against Assange over a sexual assault allegation in 2010; Assange denies the claim. If it becomes a question of whether the US or Swedish requests take priority, then under section 179 of the Extradition Act 2003 it is a matter for the home secretary, Sajid Javid, to resolve.

Julian Assange's charges are a direct assault on press freedom, experts warn Read more

On Thursday, the WikiLeaks founder was arrested on behalf of the US authorities, who have charged him with involvement in a computer hacking conspiracy.

The 47-year-old faces up to 12 months in a British prison after he was found guilty of breaching his bail conditions. The US charge could attract a maximum jail sentence of five years, according to the US Department of Justice.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday, Abbott said: “If you remember the Gary McKinnon case, the Americans insisted on extraditing him. He had done this massive computer hack, but his real crime was to have embarrassed the American military and security service.

“In the end the then home secretary, Theresa May, blocked his extradition on what she said were human rights grounds. We think there may be human rights grounds in relation to Assange.”

Abbott described the allegations facing Assange from two women in Sweden as “serious”, but said charges were never brought.

She said: “If the Swedish government wants to come forward with those charges I believe that Assange should face the criminal justice system.”

But she added: “It is not the rape charges, serious as they are, it is about WikiLeaks and all of that embarrassing information about the activities of the American military and security services that was made public.

“He is at the very least a whistleblower and much of the information that he brought into the public domain, it could be argued, was very much in the public interest.

This video has been removed. This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. Julian Assange removed from Ecuadorian embassy in London - video

Almost 12 hours after Assange was arrested, Corbyn tweeted: “The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government.”

He accompanied his social media post with a video tweeted by Abbott, which she said showed leaked Pentagon footage of a 2007 airstrike in Iraq that implicated US armed forces in the killing of civilians and two journalists.

Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government.pic.twitter.com/CxTUrOfkHt

Addressing the House of Commons on Thursday, Abbott said Assange was in the “crosshairs of the US administration” over his whistleblowing activities.

She said: “On this side of the house we want to make the point that the reason we are debating Julian Assange this afternoon, even though the only charge he may face in this country is in relation to his bail hearings, is entirely due to the whistleblowing activities of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.”

She added: “It is this whistleblowing into illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale, that has put Julian Assange in the crosshairs of the US administration.

“It is for this reason that they have once more issued an extradition warrant against Mr Assange.”

In response, the home secretary said: “Why is it whenever someone has a track record of undermining the UK and our allies and the values we stand for, you can almost guarantee that the leadership of the party opposite will support those who intend to do us harm? You can always guarantee that from the party opposite.”

Meanwhile, Assange’s mother railed against May and Ecuador’s president in a stream of tweets demanding the release of her son. Pledging to “fight like hell”, Christine Assange said May was “trying to divert attention away from her Brexit dog’s breakfast by cheering on the thuggish, brutal, unlawful arrest of my courageous, tortured multi-award winning journalist son Julian”.