A bipartisan delegation of Australian lawmakers said on Tuesday they’d met with US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, urging her to help drop the pending extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and permit him to return to Australia.
The ‘Bring Julian Assange Home’ parliamentary group said it had informed the US envoy of ‘widespread concern in Australia’ over Assange’s continued detention.
“There are various views on Assange within the Australian community and members of the parliamentary group reflect this diversity of views. But what is just not discussed throughout the Group is that Mr Assange is being treated unfairly,” MEPs said in a press release after meeting Kennedy in Canberra.
Assange, an Australian citizen, is in search of extradition from the UK to the US, where he is needed on criminal charges in connection with the 2010 disclosure of confidential US military files and diplomatic cables.
Washington says the release of the documents put lives in danger.
![Julian Assange is fighting for extradition from the UK to the US, where he is wanted on suspicion of committing a crime in connection with the disclosure of confidential US military files.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AFP_9UD8FV.jpg?w=1024)
Assange’s supporters say he’s an anti-establishment hero who has been persecuted because he exposed US misconduct, including within the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The US Embassy in Australia confirmed the meeting in a tweet but gave no further details.
Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Reuters he believed the meeting was “a vital confirmation” by the US government that “Julian’s freedom is significant to tens of millions of Australians”.
![Julian Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, May 19, 2017.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/219492512.jpg?w=1024)
“After (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) expressed frustration with the Biden administration, that is now a test for Ambassador Kennedy to see if he can move Washington on this issue,” he said.
Albanese, who advocated Assange’s release, expressed his frustration last week that he had yet to discover a diplomatic solution to the issue.
Support for Assange amongst US policymakers stays low.
![Supporters of Julian Assange gather outside the High Court in London, UK in 2021.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/12568361a.jpg?w=1024)
Only a number of members of Congress supported the request to drop the costs against him.
If extradited, Assange faces up to 175 years in a maximum security prison.