The campaign to free Julian Assange has been buoyed by hardened language used by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the support of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, as the issue of the WikiLeaks co-founder’s imprisonment returns to global prominence.
Renewed optimism lifted the campaign on Friday morning, after Albanese, in an interview with the ABC from London overnight, aired frustrations with the government’s gridlocked diplomatic efforts to free Assange. Dutton, speaking to the broadcaster’s Radio National on Friday morning, offered the Coalition’s support.
Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, said the interview marked the latest in a series of significant developments in the pursuit of his brother’s freedom, and signalled the government has taken up a hardened footing on the issue.
“I expect the government will look for ways to ramp this up,” Shipton told Crikey.
“Whether it’s public displays of frustration with the Biden administration, or other things they could do, like pushing for Julian to be under house arrest. These are all things the government could be doing instead of pushing for a full drop of charges.”
Calls for Assange’s freedom have returned to global prominence in recent weeks, as the US stokes international concern over the detainment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia on espionage charges.
During a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre swatted away questions of whether the US is “losing the moral high ground” on arguing for Gershkovich’s release, when it continues to seek the extradition of Assange from the UK to the US.
Gershkovich was taken by Russian authorities on March 29 in the city of Yekaterinburg, which sits roughly 1800 kilometres east of Moscow, and has since been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison where he awaits trial, set to begin on May 29, and which could deliver a 20-year sentence.
He was visited by US consular officials for the first time since his arrest late last month, and has drawn support from politicians across the US, including Biden, who called the reporter’s imprisonment “out of bounds” and “totally illegal”.
Assange, by contrast, has been detained in Britain’s Belmarsh Prison since April 2019, where his health is reported to have deteriorated. He was visited for the first time by an Australian high commissioner in early April.
In the interview published early Friday morning, Albanese steered clear of the Biden administration’s efforts to free Gershkovich, but pointed to the “disconnect” between the US’ treatment of Assange and the now-freed Chelsea Manning, who supplied WikiLeaks with information.
“I think that when Australians look at the circumstances, look at the fact that the person who released the information (Chelsea Manning) is walking freely now, having served some time in incarceration but is now released for a long period of time, then they’ll see that there is a disconnect there,” Albanese told the ABC.
The prime minister said he continues “to say in private what I said publicly as Labor leader”, and that his government continues to make “very clear” where it stands on Assange’s position through diplomatic channels with the US.
Later on Friday morning, Dutton said the government had the Coalition’s support in finding a resolution to the charges faced by Assange, a situation he said has “gone on for too long”.
“I think that’s the fault of many people, including Mr Assange, to be honest, but the matters I think have to be dealt with,” Dutton said. He said Albanese’s efforts to forge an outcome are “a good thing” that will be discussed with “a lot of sensitivity”.
“So it doesn’t help to publicly speculate on it too much,” he said.
Dutton’s comments signal a changing posture on the issue among Coalition members, who as recently as last year remained divided on offering full-throated support to public campaigning on Assange’s freedom.
“I think there is consensus [on Julian] across politics in Australia,” Shipton said. “I think Julian’s imprisonment has now reached a point where it’s a global issue that’s not only recognised by both sides of Australian politics, but also as a global press freedom problem that could easily be solved by the US.”
