Australia will not challenge Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the US and has confidence in the British judicial system, a senior government minister said Thursday.
A British court issued a formal order Wednesday for the Australian national to be extradited to the US, where he would face trial for the publication of a trove of secret files relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.
“We have confidence in the independence and integrity of the British justice system,” Australian Senator Simon Birmingham told the national broadcaster ABC Thursday.
Australia’s government was not arguing against the extradition, he said in a statement.
“This is a process that will be able to continue to work through that system,” said Birmingham, who is Australia’s finance minister.
Following the British court’s order, Assange’s lawyers have until May 18 to make submissions to Britain’s interior minister Priti Patel, with whom the final decision about his extradition rests.
Birmingham noted that Assange’s right of appeal remained – he can seek appeal to the High Court – and said Australia would continue to provide consular assistance to its jailed citizen.
A coalition of 25 human rights groups – including the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders – has challenged Assange’s extradition saying it poses a “grave threat to press freedom both in the US and abroad.”
In this file photo taken on February 5, 2016 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange comes out on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy to address the media in central London on February 5, 2016. Photo: CFP
