MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s House of Representatives has ramped up pressure on the United States and Britain to end the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by passing a motion calling for the Australian citizen to be allowed to return to his home country.
Independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie moved the motion on Wednesday one week ahead of Britain’s High Court of Justice hearing Assange’s appeal against extradition to the United States on espionage charges.
Leaders of both the government and the opposition have publicly stated that the United States’ pursuit of the 52-year-old had dragged on for too long.
Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton on Thursday welcomed the lawmakers' vote, adding that his notorious sibling could potentially be extradited to the United States next week.
Senior opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan said the motion did not reflect his party’s wish that the prosecution progress more quickly.
Persons:
Julian Assange, Andrew Wilkie, Anthony Albanese, Assange, Gabriel Shipton, he’ll, ” Shipton, Wilkie, Albanese, Australia’s, Joe Biden, State Anthony Blinken, Dan Tehan, ” Tehan, Tehan, Chelsea Manning, Manning, Barack Obama
Organizations:
—, Independent, Australian, Ecuadorian Embassy, House, U.S, State, WikiLeaks, Army, Manning’s
Locations:
MELBOURNE, Australia, United States, Britain, Britain’s, Ecuadorian, London, Sweden