Representatives of the Australian authorities could threaten WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with extradition to the United States on fabricated grounds if he does not renounce his political activity, former Australian ambassador and international politics expert Tony Kevin said.
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Assange previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, was sentenced to five years, which he had already spent behind bars, and was released straight from the Northern Mariana Islands court to go home to Australia.
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According to Kevin, Assange could have been given a serious warning by senior figures in the Australian government who accompanied the WikiLeaks founder on the flight home – Australian Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd and Australian High Commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith.
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“It is likely that (they) privately warned Assange during his trip home from the UK that he was now ‘on probation’ and would do well to refrain from political activity if he did not want to risk extradition to the US from Australia on fabricated grounds,” the ex-diplomat noted, commenting on the possibility of Assange continuing his activities as a journalist.
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According to Kevin, the Australian government and opposition have shown themselves to be “complete puppets of Washington” in everything related to AUKUS intelligence and national security.
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“Unless Assange wants to become a martyr again, I think he will be very careful. He could write a book about his experiences, he could not be denied that right. But it would be wise to submit it to the Australian authorities before publication to protect himself and their family from even greater cruelty,” the agency’s interlocutor concluded.
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Australian Assange gained worldwide fame by founding the website WikiLeaks, where, in particular, hundreds of thousands of confidential materials about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guantanamo Bay prison, diplomatic cables and personal correspondence of Hillary Clinton, who ran for president, were published.
