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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addresses the media from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy. Photo: AFP

Australia offers consular assistance to Julian Assange, who claims UN report is ‘victory of historical importance’

WikiLeaks founder has lived in the Ecuadorean embassy since June 2012 after he exhausted all chances of appeal through British courts against an extradition to Sweden to face sex crime accusations involving two women.

WikiLeaks

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has met with lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and offered consular assistance for the Australian, after a UN panel ruled he had been arbitrarily detained for almost four years.

Assange, a computer hacker who enraged the United States by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid a rape investigation in Sweden.

I have now read the report and I am seeking legal advice on its implications for Mr Assange, as an Australian citizen
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop

The Australian citizen called on Britain and Sweden on Friday to let him freely leave the embassy, after the ruling in his favour by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

“I met with members of the legal team for Julian Assange in London on Thursday afternoon, prior to the release of the report of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,” Bishop said on Saturday.

“I have now read the report and I am seeking legal advice on its implications for Mr Assange, as an Australian citizen. I have confirmed with his lawyers that our offer of consular assistance stands should he require it.”

Assange’s Australian lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that the meeting with Bishop had been positive.

“We have requested they release his passport or immediately issue him a new passport and that Australia take positive steps to help to negotiate the resolution of this case,” she said.

The decision marks the latest twist in a tumultuous journey for Assange since he incensed Washington with leaks that laid bare often highly critical US appraisals of world leaders from Vladimir Putin to the Saudi royal family.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Photo: Reuters

In 2010, WikiLeaks released over 90,000 secret documents on the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 US military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.

The UN Working Group does not have the authority to order the release of a detainee – and Friday’s ruling in unlikely to change the legal issues facing Assange – but it has considered many high-profile cases and its backing carries a moral weight that puts pressure on governments.

How sweet it is! This is a victory that cannot be denied. It is a victory of historical importance
Julian Assange

On Friday, Assange spoke from the balcony of Ecuador’s embassy in a rare public appearance. Dressed in a suit and tie, the pale 44-year-old Australian brandished a copy of the UN panel decision in his hands, appearing overwhelmed with emotion.

“How sweet it is! This is a victory that cannot be denied. It is a victory of historical importance,” he told a scrum of journalists and a handful of supporters outside the embassy in London.

One supporter in the crowd shouted: “Your friends are here Julian!” as he came out onto the balcony.

Assange has lived in the embassy since June 19, 2012 after he exhausted all chances of appeal through British courts against an extradition to Sweden to face sex crime accusations involving two women.

Ecuador has since granted him political asylum.

“The Truth Must Never Be Silenced”, “Free Assange” and “Don’t Shoot The Messenger” read some of the signs held up by protesters, including the well-known human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

“The UN ruling is a clear vindication of Julian Assange. He has been held in arbitrary detention without charge for five years,” he said. “That is a violation of Julian Assange’s human rights. Britain must recognise that Julian Assange has a right for asylum.”

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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