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Oz PM Gillard bereft of wit, remedy and spine …
by quill Thursday, Dec 9 2010, 8:36am
national / injustice/law / commentary

allows North Americans to threaten the lives of her Citizens, without so much as a whimper.

In a sickening display of cowardice and servility to Washington, Julia Gillard and her Attorney General Robert McClelland have failed to take ACTION against US and Canadian citizens for publicly demanding the assassination of AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN, Julian Assange, spokesperson for WikiLeaks.

Julia Gillard

The Oz government rather than condemning in the strongest possible language threats made against its citizens, is desperately seeking legal justification for its extremely LAME and subservient stance in the matter.

The Labor government’s ‘efforts’ to date are no better than those of former PM John ‘deputy sheriff’ Howard and his AG, Philip ‘sphincter’ Ruddock’s emasculation before the entire world over the David Hicks TRAVESTY!

If Aussie citizens have learned anything over the past decade it’s that mainstream politicians are more concerned with pleasing Corporate CEOs and criminal interests in Washington than they are with representing the interests of the Australian people!

The two party system is clearly dysfunctional; as a result, Oz citizens have been turning their backs on ineffective politicians and electing REPRESENTATIVE INDEPENDENTS to protect their interests in Parliament.

The two major parties stand condemned by their INACTION when action is clearly required.

Article from The Age follows:


Lawyers demand protection for Assange
by Nick McKenzie and Paul Millar

THE Australian lawyer for WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has written to Attorney-General Robert McClelland asking him to take formal action against prominent North American figures calling for Mr Assange to be harmed.

Melbourne criminal lawyer Robert Stary has described as ''woefully inadequate'' Mr McClelland's efforts to protect Mr Assange's rights as an Australian citizen.

Mr Stary has requested the Attorney-General order the investigation of those who may have broken a law that prohibits a person, here or overseas, to deliberately or recklessly cause physical or mental harm.

''There has been serious threats made against Julian Assange and it is incumbent on the federal government to take action to protect him. In fact, they have a legislative obligation to do so under Australian law,'' Mr Stary said.

Veteran US politician Mike Huckabee, a former Republican who has tried to run for president, said that Mr Assange was guilty of treason and that ''anything less than execution is too kind a penalty''. Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has said Mr Assange should be hunted like a terrorist.

''The Australian government should be clear to their American counterparts that threats against Mr Assange's life will be taken seriously by this country,'' Mr Stary said.

For his part, Attorney-General McClelland simply repeated loose claims that Mr Assange might have committed an offence.

He said that obtaining and distributing information that put national security at risk was likely to be an offence in the US.

''Certainly to release that sort of information by an officer of the Commonwealth, if it were Australian material, would in my view certainly involve criminality,'' he said.

Last night Mr Stary convened a meeting of lawyers, human rights activists and criminal law advocates in Melbourne to discuss the legal issues surrounding Mr Assange and his arrest - and particularly relating to the presumption of innocence.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has suggested more than once that WikiLeaks had acted illegally by releasing thousands of diplomatic cables.

The meeting condemned any future call for Mr Assange's extradition to the US ''because he cannot receive a fair trial''.

The forum believed any criminalisation of WikiLeaks was a direct attack on the media and freedom of speech.

Liberty Victoria president Peter Gordon, a former colleague of the Prime Minister at his legal practice, said it appeared war was being waged by big governments and big corporations to suppress information.

A small group of protesters outside the offices of the Law Institute, where the forum was held, called for the federal government to guarantee Mr Assange ''the same basic rights as all other Australians''.

It also called on the federal government to oppose the campaign to censor WikiLeaks and to protect ''Mr Assange from threats made against his life by US politicians''.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's Dave Noonan, the subject of a leaked US cable that cited him as an example of the declining left, said WikiLeaks was ''healthy and Assange should not be persecuted''.

© 2010 Fairfax Media

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