Julian Assange has committed no crime in Australia: AFP

[Swagman]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Dylan Welch
December 17, 2010 - 1:52PM

# Angry Assange back online
# Assange released on bail
# Fears for Thai unity over playboy crown prince
# US reversed Indonesian army ban for Obama visit


Neither Julian Assange nor WikiLeaks has committed any crime in Australia, the federal police announced this afternoon.

This is despite the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, labelling the actions of the group "illegal" two weeks ago.

Ms Gillard is holding a press conference in Sydney today to respond to the finding.

A statement released by the federal police just before 1pm said: "The AFP has completed its evaluation of the material available and has not established the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction.

"Where additional cables are published and criminal offences are suspected, these matters should be referred to the AFP for evaluation," the statement declared.

Mr Assange was earlier today released on bail in London, after being placed on remand following a European arrest warrant issued by Sweden.

He is wanted there in connection with allegations of sexual assault. He denies the allegations

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/julian-assange-has-committed-no-crime-in-australia-afp-20101217-190eb.html

[Matilda]

1. It would be timely for Julia Gillard to announce

that Assange has the full support of the Australian Government.

If she doesn't, she risks a Hicks-style blowback from the Australian public.

[Pavulon]

4. I'm betting the indictments against him are not from OZ

and that he will be extradited to face conspiracy charges here in the US backed by communications between him and manning.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sabrina 1]

9. Aside from the pure fantasy of your speculations, although

I have heard that scenario proposed on rightwing radio where rabid freedom of the press haters are always willing to make up 'facts' if they can't find any actual facts, but what exactly would be illegal about an editor and publisher of an award-winning news organization speaking to a source?

I guess you didn't watch the Judiciary Committee hearings today? Seems they can't do much about such a situation, raised naturally by a Repub., as pure speculation. Even, it was decided, if the News Org. paid a source, any legislation making that illegal, would wipe out the entire Tabloid Industry who also are covered by the 1st Amendment, as it should be.

Torturing Manning to force him to make false claims won't work either. EU countries, under their extradition treaties, cannot extradite anyone to a country that tortures human beings. The U.S. sadly is on the list of countries now that is known to have torture as a policy.

Sorry to have to burst your bubble, but your hopes and dreams were pretty much dashed by the Judiciary Committee today. It seems that the backlash against the US's 'deranged' response to Wikileaks from around the world, has made it necessary for the adults to step forward to tamp down the 'wiki-mania' and to point out the reality to the morons calling for prosecution and murder of Assange and his family, that he has not broken any laws, and to make any claims that he has, would be an assault on every news organization that ever used a whistle-blower as a source. You surely know that we also have laws protecting whistle-blowers ....

It was very encouraging to see this development, some sanity finally, at the end of week of pure insanity. Fortunately there are some mature intelligent people around who realize that threatening to kill an editor and publisher of a news organization, to 'investigate the NYT' etc. as suggested by the Palin/Lieberman/Huckabee contingency, caused condemnation from around the world and only served to make heroes of Manning and Assange.

Even sane Republicans are now backing away from conjuring up charges against Wikileaks. Too bad they did not step in before the world got to see insane elected and former elected U.S. officials disgrace this democracy as they lost all sense of reason. Hopefully the hearings today will help negate some of the damage done to this country over the past two weeks.

[Peace Patriot]

11. Thank you for this very informative analysis!

We do need to realize, however, that a U.S.-Diebold-Puke Congress will take power in January which means that everything diabolical in our national political Mad Hatter's Tea Party will increase by many orders of magnitude. Severed heads mounted on London Bridge as a lesson to pickpockets. Bear-baiting. Stuff like that. We could see calls for Assange to be tethered to the Washington Monument for public stone throwing. Wouldn't surprise me. WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME!

I've been following Latin American issues and there is already a contingent of foaming-at-the-mouth Miami mafia who have already had a meeting with Latin American fascists and Roger Noriega--sponsored under the auspices of the Bluedog Congress--virtually calling for a war on Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. I've seen many dark shadows of a Pentagon plan for Oil War II: South America lurking underwater over the past several years, like a sunken hulk in the Caribbean. Sailors, beware!

There are rough waters ahead and I don't think we're going to get any relief until we get rid of the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines. Democracy is designed to provide the populace with a means of correcting course when the Ship of State is heading for wreckage. The 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines are designed to foil that brilliant scheme--the best system of government ever.

Sorry to be so metaphory. Been reading about sailing ships lately.

ES&S just bought out Diebold (aka, Premier), thus acquiring an 80% monopoly over election results, nationwide. We have lost the right to verify any election result, anywhere in the country. It's gone. The bad guys (and, believe me, ES&S is worse than Diebold) can do ANYTHING they want, and have. Very serious situation. The coming Nutball Congress will make it very difficult for the "adults" to prevail. And we are a few keystrokes away from having a Nutball president, programmed in ES&S's techie dungeon, where the people of the U.S.A. are not permitted to go. Then the U.S.A. becomes a bit of wreckage on the shoals of time. Very short experiment in self-government, all in all.

This is something that we CAN do something about--whereas there are a lot of things we CAN'T do anything about--or can't do anything about until we restore transparent vote counting. How we count our votes is still a local/state power. There is NO federal law requiring 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting. (Beware of the Nutball Congress on this matter. They might close this loophole through which a revolution could be squeezed.) It was all accomplished through corruption and filthy lobbying (--$3.9 billion e-voting boondoggle from the Anthrax Congress). It won't be easy. Needs a widespread citizen movement at the local/state level. But it CAN be done.

That's the big hole in the bottom of the Ship of State that needs fixing, fast.

[Violet_Crumble]

27. Well said, Sabrina n/t

[Bragi]

2. Where can we see her news conference? /nt

[canetoad]

3. I don't know if you'll see it live

But try here http://www.abc.net.au/news/ in the video section later on. At the moment I can't find what time it's going to be.

[glinda]

5. Oz and a few other Countries should step up to the plate and back him. He will be imprisoned here.

[EFerrari]

6. We don't know that. Keep visualizing him free and busy

if you can. This will be a knock down drag out fight. No giving up yet. :hi:

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Matilda]

10. Julia Gillard facing pressure over her initial comments on Wikileaks.

"At one stage Ms Gillard labelled the actions of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange "illegal". It was later downgraded to "grossly irresponsible".

But today at a press conference in Sydney there was a slightly different tone after an investigation by the Australian Federal Police."

(snip)

"Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says Ms Gillard must formally retract her comments.

"There's just some really important principles, not just fundamental legal principles, but obviously this gentleman has legal rights that should respected," he said."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/17/3096454.htm

Gillard is a lawyer; it's hard to understand how she could make such irresponsible statements. And they were widely reported, as she now doubt wanted them to be at the time, so it's foolish for her to try to deny it now.

[fascisthunter]

12. more news to piss off the totalitarian crowd

[OKNancy]

13. kick

[Ellipsis]

14. WikiLeaks cleared of breaking Australian law

Source: news.com.au

By Malcolm Farr, National Political Editor

AFP says WikiLeaks has committed no criminal offence in Australia and there is no need for an investigation.
The Australian Federal Police today said an investigation which began November 30 had detected no offences.

This finding is an embarrassment to Prime Minister Julia Gillard who initially said the leaking of confidential cables to Washington from the US Embassy in Canberra was illegal.

Ms Gillard later modified her position by saying the leaks had been based on an illegality - the original downloading of the diplomatic messages by a junior American soldier.




Read more: http://www.news.com.au/features/wikileaks/wikileaks-cleared-of-breaking-australian-law/story-fn79cf6x-1225972733947

---

Oi!

Gonna age myself with this one... Poor Ms Gillard


"It's a mistake"

Men at work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBpyichRWo0





.

[Whoa_Nelly]

15. K&R and +1

[gateley]

16. Woo Hoo! I'm hoping for the same outcome here. Dare I? nt

[Ellipsis]

17. ...wonder if he'll go back to the big down under.

.

[gateley]

18. Did you see footage of him on that estate in England? He looked like he

belonged there! Beautiful manse, beautiful countryside. Calm setting for the storms he unleashes! :7

[Ellipsis]

19. No. Couple good pics here though.

http://www.news.com.au/features/wikileaks/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-granted-bail-by-uk-court/story-fn79cf6x-1225972712416

[sabrina 1]

21. Yesterday, John Conyers held a hearing of the Judiciary Committee

which was bi-partisan, on Wikileaks and the The U.S. Constitution. They had seven 'witnesses' most of them legal experts, including Abby Lowell and Ralph Nader.

In Conyers' opening statement he said that 'wikileaks has done nothing illegal'. It was one of the best hearings I have seen for a long time. All agreed that to charge Assange or Wikileaks with wrong-doing would be 'going down a very slippery slope' since it would mean the entire press could be charged as well. They more or less came to an agreement that he cannot be charged under the Espionage Act.

They said that Act was very flawed and discussed new legislation that would protect both freedom of the press and state secrets.

All agreed that the real problem was NOT Wikileaks or even Manning, but rather 'why was it even possible for Manning to have access to those documents'? Both Repubs and Dems stated that this was the main problem, not the publishing of them.

So, Australia and the Chairman of the U.S. Judiciary Committee agree, Wikileaks has committed no crime.

I got the feeling that both Dems and Repubs felt they had to stop the 'wiki-mania', the rabid calls for Assange's assassination etc. have only made the U.S. look bad and turned him into a hero.

It was over three hours long but worth watching and made me feel a bit better about the handling by this country of the whole affair.

They are apparently attempting to show that he 'colluded' with Manning. But that was brought up in the hearing also and legal experts seemed to agree that Assange being in contact with Manning would not constitute a crime either because publishers and editors often speak with their unnamed sources.

If it had been up to this committee, I think they all would have had to vote 'no' on any attempt to prosecute Assange given the facts that are available.

[melm00se]

26. self delete

[struggle4progress]

20. ... Gillard said she wanted to make it "very, very clear" that she does not support the "grossly

irresponsible" efforts to publish the diplomatic cables online ...
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101217/assange-on-bail-returns-to-wikileaks101217/20101217/?hub=EdmontonHome

[EFerrari]

23. Maybe she should clarify for herself what the law is before she opens her mouth.

[struggle4progress]

24. I don't know how politicians act in YOUR world; but in MY world, they very often shoot from the lip

first and ask questions later, so I'm usually content to see them back away from their worst gaffes and pretend to jabber sanely for a few days

[micraphone]

25. Mabe she needs to engage brain...

Before opening mouth.

Not easy when mouth is is in US SPEAK mode...

Sorry Julia.

From your 'friends' in NZ...

[Voice for Peace]

22. Great news. nt

[Vidar]

28. Three cheers for the Aussies!