Assange insists on US case against him

22 Jun 2012, 12:15 pm   -   Source: AAP, SBS
Share This
0 
+ Comment
7
British police say they'll arrest Assange for breach of bail conditions if he leaves the embassy. (AAP)

British police say they'll arrest Assange for breach of bail conditions if he leaves the embassy. (AAP)

The argument over how much consular assistance the Australian government has provided WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has continued after the Prime Minister waded in.

RELATED

The argument over how much consular assistance the Australian government has provided WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange continues after Prime Minister Julia Gillard said he has not sought face-to-face contact from Australian consular officials while his legal case has gone on.

Mr Assange, who is now holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London seeking asylum, says he has not had personal contact with the Australian high commission in Britain since late 2010.

Instead, contact had been limited to text messages asking 'Does Mr Assange have any concerns?'.

Ms Gillard told reporters in Rio de Janeiro, where she is attending a UN environment summit, that Assange had received the same consular assistance as any other Australian would in the same situation.

"In the course of these legal proceedings consular officials have been in contact with his legal team and Mr Assange has not requested or sought for those dealings to be directly with him," Ms Gillard said.

Assange's "very high-powered legal team" was dealing with the matter.

Consular officials had attended court for each day of proceedings, Ms Gillard said.

In an interview with the ABC on Friday., he criticised the Australian government when it was suggested they have done all they can for him.

He said that since late 2010 he had only received SMS messages, and the government was offering him 'empty words.'

'I haven't met with anyone from the Australian High Commission since 2010. What are they talking about?' he asked.

Earlier, Mr Assange concedede there is no current indictment pending against him that could result in his extradition to the US, but the WikiLeaks founder insists US prosecutors are building a case.

He is trying to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations, which he says are baseless.

Assange previously claimed there was a secret US indictment against him over his role in publishing thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.

The Australian government has said there is no indication an indictment is pending and Assange agrees.

"Of course not, at the moment the matter is before the grand jury," he said.

"Until it comes out of the grand jury there will not be such evidence afforded."

But he cited continuing official investigations of his organisation and subpoenas issued against its internet service providers.

When told US authorities had said they were not interested in him, Assange said: "They're very careful with their words.

"Their careful statements reflect that the Department of Justice is not able to formerly confirm or deny the existence of a grand jury."

Assange said there was now a 48,135 page FBI file on him and WikiLeaks.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Your Comments

Wake Up World

KGee - from Sunshine Coast, 11 months ago

Julian's crime is to have created another vehicle for people to have access to truth. Obviously the truth is dangerous. Those who condemn Assange obviously fear disclosure and have much to lose. Attempts to control the internet continue daily, and will continue until people wake up or control is complete.

mr

cog - from wa, 11 months ago

He must have thought he was so Clever...But he only has himself to blame..this is what happens if you go telling stories.....

Julian is innocent, America, Australia and the Uk are the criminals

Christopher - from Melbourne, 11 months ago

The Australian Government is nothing more than a guttless American arse kisser. I mean did'nt George Bush say "If your not with us, your against us" ? Well there you go, Julia Gillard could not bend over any further for Obama. I think the world knows that this whole thing is a scam, this is called western democracy. If you piss off America you will pay the price. Too late America, we all know your dirty secrets, thanks to people like Julian Assange we now know the west is not all that pure.

Dumbing Down

Mona - from Australia, 11 months ago

It's called Communication, why does it have to be face to face? Frankly her political speak when it comes to defence of the USA is untrustworthy. Miss Gillard always does everything the Americans want, or possibly our PM isn't that familiar with SMS

BIG BROTHER

mark - from moonta, 11 months ago

big brother will never tell his servants all the facts australian politicians just do what they are told by america look at howard and bush you know john jump how high george.

hole

pete - from perth, 11 months ago

The yanks will get him in the end and stick him down a deep dark hole forever. they don't like to be made fools of. The yanks are fools but they don't like people showing them they are and they don't mind a bit of torcher murder and war.

Sorry about our Prime Minister Julian

Lenny - from NSW, 11 months ago

If we had a real statesmen leading our country you could properly defend yourself without needing to fear. If only we had a Government concerned about our nations sovereignty...but your trapped on the knife edge of how western countries bow to the corruption of U.S politics. All the best Julian.

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.