this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
78 points (93.3% liked)

World News

32287 readers
694 users here now

News from around the world!

Rules:

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government has been arguing since winning the 2022 elections that the United States should end its pursuit of the 52-year-old, who has spent four years in a London prison fighting extradition.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed back against the Australian position during a visit Saturday, saying Assange was accused of “very serious criminal conduct” in publishing a trove of classified U.S. documents more than a decade ago.

He told reporters that Blinken’s public comments echoed points made by President Joe Biden’s administration during private discussions with Australian government officials.

American prosecutors allege he helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk.

Before that, he spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Last week, Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, called for Australia to increase pressure on the United States.


I'm a bot and I'm open source!