The lawyers and mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are calling on the Australian government to intervene for his extradition to Sweden. Assange's legal team are worried that he will not get a fair trial in Sweden. Assange, who is Australian, has lost a legal battle to block his being sent from Britain to Sweden where he is to face questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. Assange has 14 days to take the case to the Supreme Court, the highest legal authority in Britain. His legal counsel Geoffrey Robertson called on Australian authorities to step in. “I think Canberra may have to do something about it,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “It's got a duty to help Australians in peril in foreign courts. It didn't do anything for David Hicks and that was something of a disgrace,” said Robertson. “As far as Julian Assange is concerned, Sweden doesn't have bail, doesn't have money for the bail of foreigners, so he's likely to be held in custody.” “He's going to be tried in secret, and this is outrageous by our standards,” Robertson added. Assange believes the rape allegations have been politically motivated in reaction to the activities of WikiLeaks. Currently Assange is under virtual house arrest since he was first detained in December. “We are, I think, most concerned to ease his danger of going to America and facing charges under the Espionage Act that could take years in prison,” said Robertson, a renowned human rights campaigner. Christine Assange said “I brought my son up to tell the truth, to believe in justice. “He was brought up to believe he lived in a democracy and has the right to speak against any wrong doings that he saw … Now I believe that's not true.” Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has yet to issue a statement from Cannes where she is attending the G20 Summit. BM
