No breach by WikiLeaks under Australian laws, says the police
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Giving out a clean chit to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, the Australian police has said that it did not find any breach of law by the whistleblower in his home country.
"The AFP (Australian Federal Police) has completed its evaluation of the material available and has not established the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction," the police agency said.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who had initially condemned the actions of the website, on Friday maintained that she still believed the leaks of the diplomatic messages was "grossly irresponsible," though she acknowledged AFP's conclusion.
"Where additional cables are published and criminal offences are suspected, these matters should be referred to the AFP for evaluation," the AFP said in a statement.
Attorney general Robert McClelland said it was "prudent" for the government to have referred the matter to the AFP, media reports said.
Earlier, Mr Gillard had condemned Mr Assange's actions, calling them "illegal".
Later on, she moderated her statement by saying it was the theft of the US cables that was the illegal act, while Mr Assange's role was "grossly irresponsible".
Defence minister Stephen Smith said a defence taskforce has found WikiLeaks cables about Iraq released earlier in the year did not damage the national security interest.
According to the Australian daily, Mr Gillard reiterated that the act was irresponsible but said there was no intention to change the law to cover any future mass leaks.
"There are some people who are fans of this conduct. I most certainly am not," Mr Gillard said, adding the initial taking of the documents what she called "the foundation stone of WikiLeaks" — had breached US laws.
Mr Gillard also clarified her previous statement where she referred to the act as illegal, saying she was actually referring to the theft of the cables from secret files.
"This is a grossly irresponsible matter in my view. The release of all of this documentation has been grossly irresponsible," she said.
She said that she supported whistleblowers who alerted the public to cases when things had gone wrong, but "that is not the circumstance here with WikiLeaks, in my view".
"This has been a wholesale release of information without regard to national interest questions," she said. She, however, said WikiLeaks founder Mr Assange would get consular assistance.
"Obviously, as an Australian citizen, Mr Assange is entitled to the consular assistance we provide to Australian citizens around the world when they find themselves in legal circumstances," Mr Gillard said.
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