US ambassador Caroline Kennedy at her residence with a signed portrait of her father,John F. Kennedy.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Kennedymet with members of the Parliamentary Friends of Julian Assange Group in May,fuelling hopes of a breakthrough in his case.
The US is seeking to extradite Assange from London’s Belmarsh prison to face 17 counts of breaching the US Espionage Act plus a separate hacking-related charge.
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Australian National University international law expert Don Rothwell said Kennedy’s comments reflected the fact the Biden administration was “very unlikely” to drop the charges against Assange outright.
Rothwell said the more realistic option was that US authorities could downgrade the charges against Assange in exchange for a guilty plea,taking into account the four years he has already spent in prison in the UK.
The remainder of any sentence could be served in Australia under a prisoner transfer agreement between the two countries,he said.
The complication was that Assange would be required to travel to the US and admit guilt,he said.
“Everything we know about Julian Assange suggests this would be a significant sticking point for him,” Rothwell said.
He added:“It’s not possible to strike a plea deal outside the relevant jurisdiction except in the most exceptional circumstances.”
Julian Assange,pictured leaving London’s Westminster Magistrates Court in 2020.Credit:Getty Images
But Shipton said the idea of his brother travelling to the US to strike a deal was a “non-starter” because of the risk it could lead him to attempt suicide.
“Julian cannot go to the US under any circumstances,” he said.
Albanese alluded to a plea deal earlier this year when he that “a solution needs to be found that brings this matter to a conclusion”,adding that “Mr Assange needs to be a part of that,of course”.
Labor MP Julian Hill,a prominent Assange supporter,said:“I stand bymy previous comments that no one should judge Mr Assange if he cuts a deal to get the hell out of there.
Stella Assange,wife of Julian,at a rally in front of the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra in May.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“In the meantime,I urge UK and US authorities to take concerns about Julian’s health more seriously and to move him out of maximum security prison as a sign of good faith.”
Assange lost his latest appeal against the US extradition order in June,and his supporters say he may have exhausted all appeal options by the time Albanese visits the US in late October.
Lawyer Greg Barns,an adviser to the Australian Assange campaign,said:“It is imperative that Anthony Albanese put Assange’s case on the official agenda for his meeting with Biden and to make clear that this matter goes to the heart of the US-Australia alliance.”
During a trip to Australia last month,Blinken pushed back on Australian calls for the charges against Assange to be dropped.
“Mr Assange was charged with very serious criminal conduct in the United States in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country,” Blinken told reporters.
“The actions that he is alleged to have committed risked very serious harm to our national security,to the benefit of our adversaries,and put named human sources at grave risk of physical harm,grave risk of detention.”
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