You can't hide from the truth Amerika.
US intends to chase Assange, cables showThe declassified diplomatic cables, released under freedom of information legislation, show Australia's ambassador, the former Labor leader Kim Beazley, has made high level representations to the US government asking for advance warning of any moves to prosecute Assange.
Briefings for the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and Senator Carr also suggest the Australian government has no in-principle objection to extradition.
(Australia has no principles full stop)
Senator Carr has repeatedly dismissed suggestions that the US has any interest in prosecuting and extraditing Assange. In June, Senator Carr also told the ABC Insiders program: “I've received no hint that they've got a plan to extradite him . . . I would expect that the US would not want to touch this."
You can't hide from the truth Bob CarrHowever, the Australian embassy in Washington reported in February that “the US investigation into possible criminal conduct by Mr Assange has been ongoing for more than a year”.
The embassy identified a wide range of criminal charges the US could bring against Assange, including espionage, conspiracy, unlawful access to classified information and computer fraud.
Australian diplomats expect that any charges against Assange would be carefully and narrowly drawn in an effort to avoid conflict with the First Amendment free speech provisions of the US Constitution.
The released diplomatic cables also show that the
Australian government considers the prospect of extradition sufficiently likely that, on direction from Canberra, Mr Beazley sought high level US advice on “the direction and likely outcome of the investigation” and “reiterated our request for early advice of any decision to indict or seek extradition of Mr Assange”.
The question of advance warning of any prosecution or extradition moves was previously raised by Australian diplomats in December 2010 when they first confirmed that Assange was the target of what US Justice Department officials described as an "unprecedented'' investigation.
The Australians on that occasion explained that the advance warning would be appreciated ''so that ministers could respond appropriately''.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/us-intends-to-chase-assange-cables-show-20120817-...