David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I had not intended to contribute today, but I have just heard the newsflash about the arrest of Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. As the founder of WikiLeaks, Mr. Assange is an important and critical figure in international politics. I understand he may have been a fairly difficult guest. He was skateboarding along the corridors and everything. I do not wish to trivialise matters. There are very serious human rights implications here. It is possible that Mr. Assange will be extradited to the United States, where he is very unlikely to receive a fair trial. The American military is very aggravated by the release of information. As citizens of the world, we are deeply in the debt of Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks for the release of information about the surveillance of the public, military operations and so on. Mr. Assange did a remarkable job and so did WikiLeaks. Every decent fair-minded person should stand up and support him in the situation he finds himself in at the moment. It is a very awkward and very dangerous thing. He spent seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy. The Ecuadorian authorities have terminated this arrangement now. They invited the police in and the police arrested him. He will be appearing in court shortly. It is important for this House to send a message of support to Julian Assange.