As WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to court today for the final day of his extradition hearing, his mother, Christine Assange, has demanded that Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd take action.
Assange is currently battling extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for sexual misconduct. The WikiLeaks boss has repeatedly denied these claims.
Today, Christine Assange delivered an eight-page handwritten letter to Rudd’s Brisbane office, stopping outside to read it to journalists.
Christine Assange said that although Rudd claims supports Julian Assange, it is action not words that are needed.
Julian Assange supporters rally in Brisbane
“As far as I am aware you have made no diplomatic protest to Sweden for their abuse of my son’s legal and human rights, nor have you protested to the US for their incitements to kidnap and murder,” Christine Assange said in her letter.
She continued that a laptop promised to her son had never arrived.
“Julian did not even get the laptop you had publicly promised him which he needed to prepare for his case while he was in Wandsworth Prison,” the letter said.
Christine Assange is demanding that Rudd calls on Sweden to halt its extradition proceedings against her son.
She also wants Rudd to tell the US government to stop inciting violence against Julian Assange and to prosecute those threatening him.
In London, Julian Assange’s trial continues today. On Tuesday, his lawyers argued that the WikiLeaks boss would not get a fair trial in Sweden, where they claim he could face further extradition to the United States.
Assange’s defence also questioned the conduct of the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Nye and claimed that the allegations are not crimes under English law. In extradition cases, the offences must exist in both countries.
The Assange hearing will come to a close today.
