Consular help for Assange 'useless', says mother

1 Jun 2012, 12:21 pm   -   Source: Kristina Kukolja, SBS
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The mother of Julian Assange has called on the federal government to ‘come out and list exactly what they’ve done’ to provide consular assistance to her son.

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The mother of Julian Assange has called on the federal government to ‘come out and list exactly what they’ve done’ to provide consular assistance to the Australian WikiLeaks founder in his fight to avoid extradition to Sweden.

“[It’s] low level stuff, cups of tea stuff. Whatever it is, its minor, so minor that Julian’s lawyers and Julian say it’s virtually useless, nothing to do with his human rights, his legal rights,” Mrs Assange said.
 
“There may be some little office works stuff, we’ll bring you sandwiches and grant the occasional interview,” she said.

Mr Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning over sexual assault allegations.

AUSTRALIA 'AIDING US'

But Christine Assange says she fears Australia is working with the United States, in preparation for an effort to extradite her son and put him on trial over the publication of US diplomatic cables.

She told SBS Radio the federal government is misleading the Australian people about the help it's offering her son.

“This is a PR exercise by Foreign Affairs. We know that that information goes straight back to the US, they’ve done a lot of talking with the US over this case,” Mrs Assange said.

The federal government has repeatedly said that the WikiLeaks founder is being afforded the same consular support as any other Australian citizen would receive.

“It’s true that they can’t actually tell Sweden that they should run a court case in the same way that Australia would run a court case, but what they can do is protest vigorously about the fact that the Swedish court case is continually breaching its own police and prosecutorial protocols,” Mrs Assange said.

SECRET US WARRANT

Meanwhile the US denies secretly preparing legal action against Julian Assange.
Jeffrey Bleich, US ambassador to Australia said Washington was not preparing a warrant his arrest.

''There is no such thing as a secret warrant. Period. They don't exist,'' Mr Bleich said.








 

Christine Assange

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Your Comments

Consular Services Charter

Mark - from Bayswater, 11 months ago

Maybe Mrs Assange should go to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) website and read the Consular Services Charter to better understand the services offered by the Australian Government rather than complaining.

Assange has served us well.

Michael - from Adelaide, 11 months ago

The release of the diplomatic cables showed how our politicians had so often deceived us - hence their furious reaction. It revealed that they are no smarter than us, and that their motives are often ignoble if not immoral. Excessive secrecy still allows them to avoid accountability. We must demand more transparency so that we can judge their actions quickly and vote them out if they don't live up to their promises. In years to come, we will realise how well Assange has served us.

Petition for Assange

Suzy Le - from Herston, 12 months ago

Here is a petition to the Australian Government for Julian Assange if you are interested: http://www.change.org/petitions/australian-government-seek-assurance-that-julian-assange-will-not-be-extradited-to-the-usa

Assange you are a hero

Husein - from Surry Hills, 12 months ago

Australian public should protest against such extradition. Assange only fault is that he revealed the dirty faces of the CIA, US and other EU governments/countries. They do not want truth to be told to the public because nothing these governments do fits human standards, they did much more harm to democracy and freedom of speech than their previous alliance Gaddafi. Shame on such government that helps foreign governments punish an Australian citizen for no wrong doing

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