(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Australia over the weekend to discuss military ties between the U.S. and Australia.
But even though the U.S. is looking to establish a closer relationship with Australia to counter the increasing influence of China in that region, Blinken rejected the Australian government’s calls to release Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
“Mr. Assange was charged with very serious criminal conduct in the United States in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country,” Blinken said on Saturday when asked about freeing the Australian native Assange, who was charged under the Espionage Act about three years ago for publishing classified information about U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“So I say that only because just as we understand sensitivities here, it’s important that our friends understand sensitivities in the United States.”
Blinken’s remarks came after Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that her government made it clear to Washington that it wants the US to drop its case against Assange.
“We have made clear our view that Mr. Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and our desire that it be brought to a conclusion. And we’ve said that publicly, and you would anticipate that that reflects also the position we articulate in private,” Wong said Saturday.
Australia could be waiting much longer for the U.S. to conclude its persecution of Assange.
Along with awaiting potential extradition of the dissident journalist, U.S. prosecutors are also apparently trying to prepare a new indictment or a superseding indictment against him.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported last month that the FBI sought to interview novelist Andrew O’Hagan about his time working as a ghostwriter on Assange’s autobiography over a decade ago. O’Hagan has reportedly declined to speak to the FBI because he opposes any attempt to punish a journalist for publishing classified material.
“It appears they are continuing to try to investigate, which I find unusual given the amount of time that has passed since the investigation began,” Assange’s Australian lawyer, Stephen Kenny, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I would think it is of some concern because we have been working to try to secure an arrangement that would see Julian come home.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
