Like many others, I’m bitterly disappointed to hear that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s bid to appeal against his extradition to the US has been refused by a UK court. His future now rests with British Home Secretary Priti Patel, who will make the decision on whether he is sent to the US to face the very real possibility of a lifetime behind bars.
Mr Assange’s increasingly perilous situation should be of utmost concern to the Australian Government, which needs to get actively involved in this international farce. For far too long Australia has sat idly by and watched on while one its citizens has been the victim of an intolerable injustice for simply doing his job. What is it going to take for the Government to grow a backbone and finally act to protect this award-winning journalist?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison needs to pick up the phone and urge his UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, to vehemently oppose Mr Assange’s extradition. Mr Assange is a champion of media freedom, and last time I checked journalism is not a crime.
Mr Assange should be preparing for one of the happiest days of his life when he marries fiancée Stella Moris, the mother of their two young boys. Instead he’s being forced to focus on the bleakest of futures should the UK decide to throw him to the wolves in the US.