[Global Times special correspondent in the United States Zhang Sisi Global Times special correspondent Wang Cong] "Whether Assange can be free is widely regarded as a judgment of the Australian government’s influence on the Biden administration in the United States." The Associated Press reported on July 30th that since the Labor government came to power last year, Australia has been trying to persuade the United States to terminate the prosecution of Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. However, in the recent annual meeting between US Secretary of State Blinken and Australian Foreign Minister Huang Yingxian, Blinken said that Assange was accused of committing a "very serious criminal act".
The Associated Press reported that Blinken said during the talks that Assange was "suspected to be related to one of the most serious confidential information leaks in American history", and he understood Australia’s concerns and views on this matter, but urged Australia "as a friend, we should understand the concerns of the United States". Blinken also said that Assange’s "alleged acts may cause very serious harm to US national security" or even "life-threatening". Huang Yingxian responded that Australia has "made it clear publicly for many times" and that Assange’s case has been delayed for too long. Australia hopes that the United States can withdraw these allegations and settle the case as soon as possible.
In addition, the Australian Sydney Morning Herald quoted Huang Yingxian as saying that the United States had "inconsistent" attitudes towards Assange and Chelsea Manning, another protagonist of the "confidential document leak case" and a former American army intelligence analyst. Manning was arrested for leaking about 700,000 confidential military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013. However, in January 2017, former US President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence before leaving office, which led to her release in May of that year.
Assange has been detained in the high-security Belmarsh prison in south London since he was arrested by the British government from the Ecuadorian embassy in London in April 2019. In June, 2022, the British Home Secretary, Pruitty Patel, approved the request of the United States to extradite Assange. In July of the same year, Assange appealed the extradition order to the British High Court. According to the relevant laws of the United States, once Assange is extradited to the United States, he will be charged with espionage and improper use of computers in the United States, and he will face a maximum of 175 years in prison.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Blinken’s statement is the "sharpest and most detailed" comment made by Biden administration officials on Assange. Blinken’s remarks mean a "rare public disagreement" between the United States and Australia, and highlight that "the Albanese government faces an arduous task in persuading Biden’s government to stop pursuing Assange". The Guardian reported that Blinken’s defense of the American accusation against Assange would be regarded as "a heavy blow to the efforts of the international community to rescue Assange".
Assange, 52, was born in Australia and founded the Wikileaks website in 2006. In 2010, Wikileaks exposed a large number of American diplomatic cables and confidential documents of the US military during the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War, and exposed the war crimes of the US military. In 2019, after Assange was arrested in Britain, the United States immediately requested the extradition of Assange. Australian Prime Minister Albanese has repeatedly urged the US government to terminate the lawsuit against Assange. In May this year, Albanese said that he had expressed the Australian government’s position to the American and British governments that there was no benefit in continuing to imprison Assange.
"Assange’s supporters reacted angrily to Blinken’s remarks." "Australia is the closest ally of the United States, and Blinken needs to understand the overwhelming view of the Australian people, that is, it is fed up with Assange’s endless imprisonment," said Barnes, legal adviser of the Australian Assange supporters organization, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Assange must be released immediately and be reunited with his family. "