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Mr Rudd: Protect Assange!

This is an open letter to Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. It calls on the Australian government to take steps to ensure Julian Assange’s human rights are protected. It will be delivered on 19 December 2011, but we encourage members of the public to sign the letter below by adding their full name in the comments section, together with any comment they may wish to make. Please feel free to spread the word about the letter to others who may be interested.

Bernard Keane and Elizabeth O’Shea

The Hon Kevin Rudd
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House ACT 2600

Dear Minister

We write to express our concern about the plight of Julian Assange.

To date, no charges have been laid against Mr Assange by Swedish authorities. Nonetheless, we understand that should he be sent to Sweden, he will be held on remand, incommunicado. We note your comments last year about the need for Mr Assange to receive appropriate consular support. We trust that this consular support is being provided and will continue.

We are concerned that should Mr Assange be placed in Swedish custody, he will be subject to the process of “temporary surrender”, enabling his removal to the United States without the appropriate legal processes that accompany normal extradition cases. We urge you to convey to the Swedish government Australia’s expectation that Mr Assange will be provided with the same rights of appeal and review that any standard extradition request would entail.

Any prosecution of Mr Assange in the United States will be on the basis of his activities as a journalist and editor (Mr Assange’s status as such has been recently confirmed by the High Court in England). Such a prosecution will be a serious assault on freedom of speech and the need for an unfettered, independent media.

Further, the chances of Mr Assange receiving a fair trial in the United States appear remote. A number of prominent political figures have called for him to be assassinated, and the Vice-President has called him a “high-tech terrorist”. Given the atmosphere of hostility in relation to Mr Assange, we hold serious concerns about his safety once in US custody. We note that Mr Assange is an Australian citizen, whose journalistic activities were undertaken entirely outside of US territory.

Mr Assange is entitled to the best endeavours of his government to ensure he is treated fairly. He is entitled to expect that his government will not remain silent while his liberty and safety are placed at risk by a government embarrassed by his journalism. Australians also expect that their government will speak out against efforts to silence the media and intimidate those who wish to hold governments to account.

We ask that you convey clearly to the United States government Australia’s concerns about any effort to manufacture charges against Mr Assange, or to use an unrelated criminal investigation as the basis for what may effectively be rendition. We also urge the government to publicly affirm that Mr Assange is welcome to return to Australia once proceedings against him in Sweden are concluded, and that the government will fully protect his rights as an Australian citizen once here.

We have copied this letter to your colleague, the Attorney-General.

Yours sincerely

Phillip Adams AO
Adam Bandt MP
Wendy Bacon
Greg Barns
Susan Benn
Senator Bob Brown
Dr Scott Burchill
Julian Burnside QC
Dr Leslie Cannold
Mike Carlton
Professor Noam Chomsky
David Collins
Lieutenant Colonel (ret) Lance Collins, Australian Intelligence Corps
Eva Cox
Sophie Cunningham
Roy David
Andrew Denton
Senator Richard Di Natale
Peter Fitzsimons
Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH
Anna Funder
Professor Raimond Gaita
David Gilmour and Polly Samson
Kara Greiner
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Liz Humphrys
Barry Owen Jones AO
Professor Sarah Joseph
Bernard Keane
Professor John Keane
Stephen Keim SC
Steve Killelea
Andrew Knight
Mary Kostakidis
Professor Theo van Leeuwen
Ken Loach
Antony Loewenstein
Senator Scott Ludlam
Associate Professor Jake Lynch
Professor Robert Manne
Dr Ken Macnab
David Lyle
Alex Miller
Senator Christine Milne
Alex Mitchell
Reg Mombassa
Gordon Morris
Jane Morris
Julian Morrow
The Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC
Nicolé Nolan
Rebecca O’Brien
Elizabeth O’Shea
Michael Pearce SC
John Pilger
Justin Randle
Senator Lee Rhiannon
Guy Rundle
Angus Sampson
Senator Rachel Siewert
Marius Smith
Jeff Sparrow
Professor Stuart Rees AM
Rob Stary
Stephen Thompson
Dr Tad Tietze
Mike Unger
Dale Vince
Brian Walters SC
Rachel Ward
Senator Larissa Waters
Tracy Worcester, Marchioness of Worcester
Senator Penny Wright
Prof Spencer Zifcak

Editorial team

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  2. Why is our government unable to protect our own when the US is involved? Please add my name in support of this letter.

  8. Whistle blowers are to be admired and protected, they open our eyes to the truth we all deserve

  9. Thank you for writing this letter. Please add my name. Julian Assange deserves the full protection of the Australian government and deserves our respect and support. It’s time we stopped being a vassal to the United States Government.

  10. Please add my name to this petition for justice.

    The Australian Government’s treatment of Assange shames Australia and every single one of its citizens. It says explicitly and publicly that if a fascist government like that of the USA considers you an enemy (for whatever reason – just because they say so), then you are toast.

    Even if you have demonstrably broken NO Australian laws, they will lie in public and say that you have. They will give you and your rights up completely without even a flicker of interest in due process, fairness, or justice.

    This shockingly right-wing Labor government combination of JG & KR will be judged on how they fight for the rights of one of their most heroic citizens. So far, they haven’t even extracted their heads sufficiently from the murky backside of the USA to even be able to perceive the situation objectively, let alone take the pulse of where their citizenry stands in this respect.

    SHAME Australian Government SHAME. We can only hope that sanity will prevail in the highest court of the land in the UK, and that Assange will be freed to go about his business as a legitimate journalist. A journalist who works harder by the way, than any of these parasitic, fawning and compromised mainstream publications who have the temerity to use the phrase “without fear or favour.”

    The eyes of the world are watching you RUDD and you GILLARD. Wake up people of Australia – you could be next.

  13. Add my name as well Please! Australians should never be punished for telling the truth! If necessery to send someone then Ms Gillard is a well known liar send her!

  15. Julian Assange in publishing leaked cables has exposed the depth of duplicity in American actions and deeds and been a catalyst for change around the world. Many powerful American politicians want him silenced or dead. The Australian government by it’s silence condones the extraordinary actions taken by Sweden to extradite him even though no charges have been laid. As an Australian citizen Julian Assange is entitled to the full support of all Australians and the complete support of his government here and abroad. Please add my name to the list of those attached to this letter.
    Michael Glenn Carter

  19. Add my name I already received communication on behalf of Rudd – I will never vote again for Labor (or Liberal as they are just as devious ) over this betrayal of a fellow Australian – not the first – and the internet censorship they are trying to impose by stealth.

  28. Totally agree with the sentiments expressed in the open letter and other comments posted in support. HOWEVER…Unfortunately I expect our mighty leaders will be totally unmoved. When it comes to the US they are all part of that famous congo line.

  30. Please add me to the list as I feel very strongly about this and believe the letter is worded exactly as I feel

  35. Please add my name to this petition for justice as it very much reflects the words attributed to Benjamin Franklin: \Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain temporary safety/security, deserve neither liberty nor safety.\ As stated in a December 2010 news release put out by the Institute for Public Accuracy (USA), and co-signed by Daniel Ellsberg: \Wikileaks has teased the genie of transparency out of a very opaque bottle, and powerful forces in America, who thrive on secrecy,are trying desperately tryking to stuff the genie back in.\

  37. Truth is everything, why must my immediate reaction to everything I hear and read be one of cynicism, resignation and disbelief? Human intelligence can be sublime, but the vast majority of us are willfully stupid and corrupt.

  39. please add my name to the support list / as an old 60’s radical democrat (more parties not less, dear old marxist friends), i honour what wikileaks has done /julian assange et al have brought the yuppies dream (remember them? playing the media at it’s own game) to reality / luv on ya

  40. Please add my name to the list.
    Democracy is of the people, by the people, for the people; and not of only the people who agree with US domestic and foreign policy, by small curmudgeon of capitalists whose primary purpose is to manipulate overtly and covertly the political instruments of their country for their own interests. American history is replete with events that put down dissent within its province, dating back to its founding; and its preparedness to extend its economic and political power beyond its boundaries is well documented. The calumny it directs towards Mr Assuage should be resisted by the Australian government and all Australians and all other freeminded countries.

  43. Please add my name to this letter. I support ever word. We need our leaders to show some moral fortitude and lead!!

  44. Protect freedom of speech.
    Protect justice.
    Protect Julian Assange.

    Please add my name to the letter.

  47. Please add my name in support. My disgust of the Australian government leaves me speechless.

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