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Assange granted opportunity to appeal his extradition while Australian Greens campaign to free McBride.
It’s been a week for breaking news on whistle blowers and truth tellers.
Last week, the Labor Government “succeeded” in having war crimes whistleblower David McBride jailed for up to five and a half years.
They pressed for this harsh outcome and refused to exercise their powers to end this unfair prosecution.
“What was David’s crime? It was simply telling the public the truth about war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in the appalling war in Afghanistan,” says Greens Senator, David Shoebridge.
“David’s last chance for freedom lies with the Attorney-General, who can exercise his powers to have David pardoned through the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
“This is David’s last chance to end this nightmare and let him return to his kids, his friends, and his community.
“My Greens colleagues and other members of the crossbench wrote to the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General last week demanding urgent action.
“Unless we take urgent action, David McBride will be trapped in jail for years because he told the truth. We can’t let that happen.
“David McBride served his country during two tours in Afghanistan, and he was a defence lawyer who could not ignore the evidence he saw about war crimes.
“He wanted accountability – and when those calls were ignored inside Defence, he blew the whistle.
“Right now, the only person jailed for war crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan is the brave individual who blew the whistle on it.
“For David – and for every other person who wants to do the right thing by shining a light on wrongdoings – we urge you to join our call to free David McBride.
Meanwhile, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was granted a lifeline by the UK justice system, being granted the right to appeal against his extradition to the US.
Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told supporters: “Today in London, my family and I attended what we thought would be Julian’s final hearing on UK soil at the Royal Court of Justice.
“But what played out was far from what we’d expected – and became a huge win for the campaign. Julian has won the right to appeal the case to extradite him.
“This might feel like Groundhog Day because, in some ways, it is—we just finished an appeal process and now have to start again. All because UK judges didn’t believe the US would protect Julian under the same free speech rules that apply to every US citizen.
“To go this far and fail over something so symbolic is deeply embarrassing for the United States.
“It reveals a political opportunity—pressure is building on the US President and Congress, and we can maintain it by urging the Australian government to question why Julian isn’t protected by the same laws as US citizens.
“Right now, the team and I are heading to the airport to visit these decision-makers in the United States. Over the last few months, we’ve started to make real progress there. Recently, when pressed on it by journalists in the US, President Biden admitted that the US is actively considering Australia’s request to drop the charges against Julian.”
