Australia's PM Says Federal Police Looking Into WikiLeaks
December 06 2010 - 7:28PM
Dow Jones News
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Tuesday the
country's federal police are looking into the WikiLeaks website,
which she accused of grossly irresponsible conduct.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, has
published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. government documents
this year, most recently diplomatic cables sent by State Department
officials. Assange is currently in hiding after Sweden issued a
warrant for his arrest for questioning on alleged sexual offenses,
which he denies committing.
"The foundation stone of WikiLeaks is an illegal act that
certainly breached the laws of the U.S.," Gillard told journalists
in Canberra.
"(For) the individual involved, there are potential matters
arising from Sweden and the warrant there. Then of course, we have
got the Australian Federal Police looking to see whether Australian
laws have been broken. And then we've got the common sense test
about the gross irresponsibility of this conduct."
Earlier Tuesday, Jennifer Robinson, a London-based lawyer for
Assange, said he plans to seek Australian consular assistance.
"He has sought Australian consular assistance in Sweden some
time ago but nothing was forthcoming. So we are obviously very keen
to be in touch with the Australian authorities and seek their
assistance," Robinson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"I will be communicating that this evening. The attorney general
has, in a fairly big turnaround, come out and said that consular
assistance will be available, and of course we will be availing
ourselves of that assistance."
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said Monday Assange is
entitled to come home to Australia and could also obtain consular
assistance overseas.
-By Rebecca Thurlow, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4679;
rebecca.thurlow@dowjones.com
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