Assange risks arrest warrant from Australia

3 Sep 2011, 4:23 pm   -   Source: SBS staff
Wikileaks release more than 250 thousand cables this week. (AFP)

Wikileaks release more than 250 thousand cables this week. (AFP)

The Australian Government has not ruled out issuing an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after his whistelblower website published the name of an ASIO officer.

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The Australian Government has not ruled out issuing an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after his whistelblower website apparently breached Commonwealth law by publishing the name of an ASIO officer.

Assange has been internationally condemned after WikiLeaks published its entire archive of confidential cables without removing the names of confidential sources, agents and diplomats. 

Media outlets have condemned Wikileaks' release of more than 250 thousand leaked cables.

The Guardian, New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and Le Monde issued a joint statement deploring the release of the documents.

In a stinging editorial in Britain's Guardian, a former WikiLeaks staffer described Assange as an autocrat who had little concern for human rights.

He further alleged Assange tried to funnel off WikiLeaks funds in order to fight his personal legal battles.

Assange has accused The Guardian of publishing the confidential password to the WikiLeaks database,  forcing him to release all of the cables. 

In an interview with the AP earlier this week, former US State Department official PJ Crowley warned that the new release could be used to intimidate activists in authoritarian countries.

"I was part of those conversations nine months ago to make sure that posting cables on their wesites, they would redact the names of individuals," said Crowley.

"Now you see the entrire tranche pushed out. Having these people exposed puts them at risk, wither their lives or their careers."

It's a view backed up by one of Assange's key Australian contacts, journalist Phillip Dorling.

Dorling wrote in The Age newspaper on Saturday, calling the release, bad news for US diplomats.

"As someone who has had direct access to the archive, I have no doubt the potential for harm is very real," he wrote.

Dorling says a large number of Chinese dissidents, academics and even government officials are named as having secretly met with US diplomats and they all risk retribution from the communist leadership.

The federal government has confirmed that at least one ASIO officer is named in the latest release.

While they have not said Assange will be arrested, the Attorney General, Robert McClelland made the point that to namean ASIO officer is a criminal offence.

Experts say if any US officials are harmed because of the release of their names, Assange could face serious charges in that country. 
 

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