Australian leader Assange has long criticized persecution

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday (15) criticized the US and UK's long-standing persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Australia's parliament on Wednesday approved a motion backed by the prime minister to end the persecution of Assange, 52, so he can return to Australia with his family.

Assange, an Australian national, will go London High Court It is seeking permission to appeal his extradition to the US for espionage next week.

“People will have different opinions Assange's behavior“, Albanese told parliament. “But whatever the position of the people, this cannot continue indefinitely,” he added.

He pledged to raise Assange's case at the “highest levels” in the UK and US and that the Australian government had a duty to protect its citizens. He cited the case of Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lee, who was released from prison in China last October on espionage charges. He cited diplomatic “successes” with Australians detained in Vietnam and Myanmar.

Assange has been held in Belmarsh Prison in south-east London since April 2019. He was arrested and spent seven years in prison. Embassy of Ecuador in London To avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault charges, which were later dropped.

The US wants to prosecute Assange for leaking military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington accuses him of releasing 700,000 classified documents on US military and diplomatic activities since 2010.

Edition: AFP