The Prime Minister’s surprise revelation that he has raised the case against Julian Assange with US officials and urged that charges of espionage and conspiracy be dropped opens up many questions.
By Alison Broinowski, Pearls and Irritations
Mr Albanese thanked Dr Monique Ryan for her question on Wednesday 31 November, giving what appeared to be a carefully prepared and timed answer. The Independent MP for Kooyong sought to know what political intervention the government would make in the case, observing that public interest journalism is essential in a democracy.
The news flashed around between Assange supporters in and outside Parliament, and reached the Guardian, the Australian, SBS, and Monthly online. Neither the ABC nor the Sydney Morning Herald carried the story, even the next day. SBS reported that Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed support for the campaign to free Assange.
But two days earlier, on Monday 29 November, the New York Times and four major European papers had printed an open letter to the US Attorney-General Merrick Garland, deploring the assault on media freedom which the pursuit of Assange represented.
The NYT, the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El Pais were the papers which in 2010 received and published some of the 251,000 classified US documents provided by Assange, many revealing American atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Recent Posts
Feeding The Warfare State
Take Action Now We Lose, the Weapons Makers WinBy William D. Hartung, Tom Dispatch The Senate is on the verge of passing the distinctly misnamed…
The Rage Of Billionaires And The Frenzy To Stop Zohran Mamdani From Becoming New York’s Mayor
Take Action Now The constellation of forces now regrouping with a vengeance includes titans of Wall Street, enormous real estate interests,…
It’s Not Just The Cities. Extreme Heat Is A Growing Threat To Rural America.
Take Action Now The urban heat island sits in a rural heat ocean.By Umair Irfan, Vox Summer has officially begun with a blast of scorching…
Mamdani’s Massive Victory Should Show Democrats Where The Party’s Future Lies
Take Action Now NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has thrown the drowning Democratic Party a life vest. Will its leaders use it?By Sam…