Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Australia's new Prime Minister, Mr. Anthony Albanese, has rightly expressed genuine concern for Mr. Julian Assange. He is on the record on several occasions saying that he does not see what purpose is served by the ongoing pursuit of Mr. Assange and, most importantly, that enough is enough. On Friday, in response to the British Home Secretary's decision to approve Mr. Assange's extradition, Australia’s Foreign Minister also echoed Prime Minister Albanese's words. Earlier that day, French MP, Mr. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, spoke out and said that if he had become Prime Minister, Mr. Assange would have been made a naturalised French citizen and requested he be sent to France.

Julian Assange's extradition would be a major blow to press freedom, freedom of speech and western liberal values. This man suffered appalling treatment for three years in Belmarsh prison, which the UN described as torture. Before that, he was confined to the Ecuadorian embassy because he correctly believed the US was trying to seize him. Not only was it planning this, it has been alleged that it had also considered assassinating him. Earlier this month, the Spanish National High Court summoned President Trump's former Secretary of State to explain the alleged assassination plot.

It is time this man was set free and allowed to live in peace. President Biden said something very important on World Press Freedom Day. He sated that we must "hold to account those that seek to silence voices essential to transparent, trustworthy, and responsive governance." Nobody has done more to promote these values than Julian Assange. He revealed major war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. His organisation, WikiLeaks, published more than 90,000 US military documents relating to the Afghan war and almost 350,000 relating to the Iraq war. Those two countries are still in a state of devastation following the wars in question. Major news outlets like the The Guardianand The New York Timesrelied heavily on his work. In 2011, The Guardian was awarded newspaper of the year at the press awards because of its partnership with WikiLeaks, which makes its relative silence on his ongoing persecution so disappointing. The US has charged him with hacking Government computers and espionage because of his publishing activities. He did not have computers or steal files, however. These documents were leaked to WikiLeaks by Ms Chelsea Manning and other brave whistle-blowers. Today, Chelsea Manning is a free woman. It is well past the time that Julian Assange became a free man.

See this speech in context