Assange’s lawyer believes that the journalist will not get a fair trial in the US. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Jennifer Robinson has called on the Australian government to intervene in Julian Assange’s extradition to the US, where he could face over 100 years in prison.
Speaking at the National Press Club of Australia, she said that Julian’s situation could not be fixed legally but instead needs “an urgent political fix”.
“Julian does not have another decade of his life to wait for a legal fix. I really don’t know how much longer he can last,” she said.
Ms Robinson, who has been representing Assange for more than a decade, commented on his health saying that it continues to decline. She mentioned that at court appeal hearing that he had suffered a serious medical episode.
“As the prosecution was deriding the medical evidence of Julian’s severe depression and suicidal ideation-and the risk to his life- those with video access saw Julian in a blue room in Belmarsh with his head in his hands.
“It turned out, he had just had- or was experiencing as we watched- a mini stroke, often the harbinger for a major stroke.”
It was ruled earlier this year that Assange be extradited to the US where he will face several espionage charges in relation to documents released by WikiLeaks that detailed war crimes by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has spent the past three years in London’s Belmarsh Prison where according to Ms Robinson he recently experienced COVID-19. If found guilty, he can face up to 175 years in prison.
Attempts are being made by Ms Robinson to talk with US governmental officials, even extending an invitation to US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy to attend her address at the National Press Club.
“We would welcome a dialogue with the United States government and we will continue to make the ask that we have asked publicly, which is it’s time to drop these charges and to respect the First Amendment of your own country.”
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has said that the case against Assange has “gone on long enough” and that he is in private talks with the Biden administration.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously commented on the Julian Assange situation saying “I don’t have sympathy for many of his actions but essentially I can’t see what is served by keeping him incarcerated”.
