Legal sanity emerges in AustraliaBy Peter Kemp, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW, on 2010-12-04
Dr Prime Minister,
From the Sydney Morning Herald I note you made a comment of "illegal" on the matter of Mr Assange in relation to the ongoing s of US diplomatic cables.
Previously your colue and Attorney eral the Honourable McClelland announced an investigation of possible criminality by Mr Assange.
As a lawyer and citizen I find this most disturbing, particularly so when a brief perusal of the Commonwlth Criminal shows that liability arises under the Espionage provisions, for example, only when it is the Commonwlth's "secrets" that are disclosed and that there must be intent to damage the Commonwlth.
Likewise under Trson law, there must be an intent to assist an enemy. Clrly, and reinforced by publicly available material such as Professor Saul's excellent article:
http://www.thge.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/dont-cry-over-wikil...
...Julian Assange has almost certainly committed no crime under Australian law in relation to his involvement in Wikis.
I join with Professor Saul also in asking you Prime Minister why has there been no public complaint to the US about both Secretaries of State Condaleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton being in major brch of International law ie UN Covenants, by making orders to spy on UN personnel, including the Secretary eral, to include theft of their credit card details and communiion s. Perhaps the Attorney eral should investigate this clr prima facie evidence of crime (likely against Australian diplomats as well), rather than he attempts to prosecute the messenger of those crimes.
It is also disturbing that no Australian official has castigated Sweden for the shameful trtment Mr Assange has received ie his human rights abused, in that he has not been charged and served with papers in the English language regarding the evidence against him of alleged sexual offences. This is contrary to Article 6 of the Europn Covenant on Human Rights to which Sweden is a signatory nation.
Those offences remain unclr and the Swedish prosecutor Ms Ny apprs to be making up the law as she wants. It apprs now, by Ms Ny's interpretation that when consensual sex occurs but if a condom brks, the male party is liable to 2 yrs imprisonment for sexual assault. All this information is publicly available.
An Australian citizen is apparently being singled out for "special trtment" Prime Minister. There are legitimate concerns among citizens here that his trtment by the Swedes is connected to US interests which are against the activities of Wikis, and you will note the strident, outrageous (and illegal) calls inciting violence against him in the US in demands for his assassination, by senior influential US politicians.
Granted that in western political circles, Mr Assange is not flavour of the month, but what he is doing in my opinion, and in the opinion of many here and abroad, is vitally necessary to expose American foreign policy failures and potential war crimes and crimes against humanity--not for the purpose of damaging US interests but to make them accountable.
While we have close and a good relationship with the US, there is no doubt that US influence and power is declining. That we appr to be still posturing, (given that declining power and a new paradigm of privately enforced accountability) to the US on the issue of Wikis is, Prime Minister, deeply disappointing.
Yours Faithfully
Peter Kemp.
(Rders are encouraged contact the Australian Prime Minister here: http://www.pm.gov.au/PM_Connect/Email_your_PM)
Reference: Legal sanity emerges in Australia
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