Australia: No US extradition request for Assange

Australian Foreign Secretary Bob Carr said there is “no indication” that the US will file an extradition request for Julian Assange with Swedish authorities. Assange still resides in the Ecuadorian embassy.

Carr told the Australian channel ABC that he has spoken several times with US government officials about the Wikileaks case and the founder of the whistleblower site Julian Assange. The Foreign Minister says that these talks have shown that there is no indication that the US will actually submit an extradition request to the Swedish government, although it would theoretically be possible.

According to Carr, the case is an issue between Australian-born Assange and the Swedish government, and not about Wikileaks. In addition, the minister states that the US would have probably submitted an extradition request to the United Kingdom if they wanted to try Assange, because this route would be ‘easier’ than to submit a similar request to Sweden. Carr further stated that his American colleagues know nothing about a secret charge; however, emails from intelligence firm Stratfor published by Wikileaks talked about the presence of sealed indictments for Assange.

Assange is now waiting in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for a decision on his asylum application after he fled there on Tuesday. Ecuador has since recalled its ambassador from the United Kingdom to discuss the matter. British police have said they will arrest Julian Assange as soon as he leaves the embassy. He allegedly violated the terms of his bail.