America has no interest in Assange, says US envoy to Australia
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America has no interest in Wikileaks' Julian Assange, the country's ambassador to Australia said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Assange lost his final appeal in the Supreme Court of Britain and will now be extradited to Sweden over allegations of sex crimes. Many feel, the extradition will just pave the way for a rendition flight to the United States, where the whistleblower may face harsh punishment for leaking thousands of secret diplomatic cables.
But American ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich has rejected such fears.
“There is no such thing as a secret warrant. Period. They don't exist. It's not something that the US cares about. It's not interested in it.” Bleich was quoted in a Russia Today report telling Australian broadcaster ABC.
"And frankly if he is in Sweden then there is a less robust extradition relationship than there is between the US and the UK," Bleich added.
Assange is at present wanted for questioning over the sex crime allegations, but the Swedish lawyer said he expected an indictment perhaps within a month after he gets to Sweden. He has been living under tight restrictions on his movement for 540 days, including wearing an ankle tag and reporting daily to police.
The Australian said he fears his extradition would eventually lead to his transfer to the United States, where US soldier Bradley Manning is facing a court-martial over accusations that he handed documents to WikiLeaks.
He does not deny he had sex with two WikiLeaks volunteers in Sweden while attending a seminar, but insists the sex was consensual and argues there are political motives behind the attempts to extradite him.
Assange's mother Christine said ahead of the judgement: "It's a 24-hour nightmare because we know he is not safe and the biggest governments in the world are gunning for him."
She told Australian television that the charges against her son were unfounded but feared that if he was sent to Sweden he could be held 'incommunicado, in solitary confinement, before he is even questioned or charged'.
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