Australian-born WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been arrested by UK police after spending years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, will receive no more support from Australian authorities than any other Australian national would in this situation, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.
“When Australians travel overseas and they find themselves in difficulties with the law, well they face the judicial systems of those countries… We support Australians in those cases by providing consular assistance, so Mr Assange will get the same support any other Australian would in these circumstances, he is not… going to be given any special treatment”, the prime minister told ABC news.
The WikiLeaks founder was arrested on Thursday after Ecuador terminated his political asylum and invited UK police to take the WikiLeaks founder away. He is now facing extradition to the United States where he is accused of helping US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning break into a US government computer containing classified data. Assange, for his part, has pleaded not guilty before the UK’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
According to the court, the United States has until 12 June to submit all the papers necessary for extradition.
Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 after the United Kingdom granted his extradition to Sweden, where the whistleblower was accused of sexual offences, which he denies and calls politically motivated. The charges were dropped a few years ago, but the Swedish prosecution said after Assange’s arrest on Thursday that it was mulling over the possibility of reopening the case.