US denies Assange 'secret warrant'
Mark Baker
June 1, 2012
Julian Assange, spu[rehero of the Wide Open World and Wikileaks Shaman lost a British Supreme Court appeal yesterday. The endgame was to prevent him being sent to Sweden.
But – Get This: The United States has denied it is secretly preparing legal action against Assange. Every time the US officially denies something, torture, drone attacks, warrantless wiretapping… Well,…”So it goes…” WikiLeak/Assange supporter are exploring fresh legal strategies to stop his extradition to Sweden to face questioning over rape allegations – a transparently political gambit as ever there was.
So what has Assange’s country done for him lately? About what you would expect: Nothing. As every American traveler knows, when in trouble, the last place to look for help is the embassy. The same holds true for Australians.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, said Australian officials had made considerable efforts to ensure Assange received proper consular support since his arrest in Britain in December 2010. He said consular staff in London had been present at all his legal hearings, had contacted lawyers when he was released on bail and had assisted him with family visits while in detention.
The opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, also accused the government of prejudicing Mr Assange's chances of a fair hearing. ''I'm deeply concerned by the prejudicial statements that have been made … the Prime Minister said that Mr Assange had done an illegal act when referring to the publication of the WikiLeaks cables. She's never identified any Australian law that Mr Assange has broken.''
- KBOO