Julian Assange should be allowed to return to Australia

The Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, will make a statement in the Federation Chamber this morning urging the Federal Government to do more to allow Julian Assange to return to Australia.

“Yes Julian Assange is a controversial figure. But he is an Australian citizen and must be treated like any other Australian.

“He was not in the US when he provided evidence of US war crimes in Iraq. He can’t possibly have broken their laws.

“If Assange is indeed extradited to the US, he faces serious human rights violations including exposure to torture and a dodgy trial.

“And this has serious implications for freedom of speech and freedom of the press here in Australia, because if we allow a foreign country to charge an Australian citizen for revealing war crimes, then no Australian journalist or publisher can ever be confident that the same thing won’t happen to them.

“The man’s an Australian. He’s not an American. And he wasn’t in the US when he spoke out about the war crimes. Put simply he must be allowed to return to Australia.”