Australia: Albanese Backs Call for Julian Assange's Release

Facts

• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday his government stood firm against the United States over the prosecution of WikiLeaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange — an Australian citizen imprisoned in London — as Assange fights a US extradition attempt.¹
• Albanese's comments came after an Australian lawmaker Andrew Wilkie, [a former intelligence analyst], described the US government's refusal to drop criminal charges against Assange as "patent nonsense."²
• Previously, while sharing a stage with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in Brisbane, Penny Wong, Australia's foreign minister, called for Assange's case to be brought to a conclusion arguing that it has "dragged for too long."³
• However, Blinken said that the WikiLeaks founder's action "risk very serious harm" to US national security and that Assange was "charged with very serious criminal conduct in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country."³
• Assange faces 18 charges — including 17 for espionage — about WikiLeaks' publishing of US military documents from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a trove of US diplomatic cables.⁴
• While Assange denies any wrongdoing, his supporters have called for him to be pardoned, arguing that his actions were journalism and in the public interest. His wife, Stella Assange, claims Julian "committed no crime and is not a criminal" and is being "punished for doing his job."⁵

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²Guardian, ³NBC (a), ⁴Newsweek, and ⁵NBC (b).

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. Julian Assange is no journalist. Not only did he publish millions of stolen classified documents, he indirectly helped repressive regimes in Iran and China, as well as terror organizations such as Al-Qaeda, by disseminating that material. Such actions put US soldiers and sources in extreme danger. The US Dept. of Justice is correct to go after him.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Caitlin Johnstone. Julian Assange is a journalist who got punished for publishing accurate information about the US government's actions so its citizenry could be more informed of what their leaders were doing in their names. He's only being prosecuted because what he published exposed severe crimes and corruption, which was deeply embarrassing to America's leaders.

Predictions