Antinuclear

USA keeps Australia in the dark on its plans for Julian Assange

US pushed to clarify Assange intentions, The Age, July 25, 2012, Dylan Welch THE West Australian Labor MP Melissa Parke has called on the US Attorney-General, Eric Holder, to make a categorical statement ruling out that America is seeking to extradite the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to prosecute him for espionage.

Her call comes amid persisting public debate about whether the US has secretly convened a grand jury in Virginia with the purpose of prosecuting Mr Assange and others for a ”conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information”.

”In the light of the public information regarding a grand jury investigation, it would be helpful if the US Attorney-General would categorically state that the US has no intention of seeking the extradition of Julian Assange from Sweden,” Ms Parke told the Herald yesterday.
It was revealed in April last year a grand jury had been formed in Virginia with the likely aim of prosecuting people involved in the release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables in February 2010. A former US army intelligence analyst, Bradley Manning, has been charged with the theft and is about to face trial.
There have been no other arrests, but the US government has served orders on Twitter seeking the records of three WikiLeaks supporters and subpoenaed several people to testify before the grand jury. : http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-pushed-to-clarify-assange-intentions-20120724-22nkr.html#ixzz21gRP6UgM

July 25, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, secrets and lies