Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Foreign Minister, Penny Wong
14th July 2022
Dear Mr Albanese and Ms Wong
re: Julian Assange: 2010 Red Notice
Further to my letters of 2nd June and 5th July, and referencing my 12th July email to the AFP, copied to Attorney General Mark Dreyfus. (see below)
The AFF responded officially to my questions within 24 hours:
"No comment"
I trust that one of you will respond with similar haste.
I appreciate that your government is new, and that you have many urgent matters to deal with, and are addressing many with the haste they deserve - the cessation of the case against Bernard Collaery, for instance.
I hope that similar haste can be given to preventing Julian Assange's extradition to the United States.
From the Interpol website:
What is a Red Notice?
A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
It contains two main types of information:
- Information to identify the wanted person...
- Information related to the crime they are wanted for, which can typically be murder, rape, child abuse or armed robbery.
Why was Julian Assange, who had been found guilty of no crime in 2010, issued with the most extreme of all Interpol arrest warrants: Red?
A Red Notice arrest warrant was also in force in 2010 for Joseph Kony, charged with 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes?
However, Muammar Gaddafi accused of murder and crimes against humanity was issued with only the second most serious Interpol warrant: Orange?
Was the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice arrest warrant an appropriate course of action to take in relation to an Australian citizen who had been found guilty of no crime in 2010?
Was the 2010 Red Notice issued for political reasons? If so, was the arrest warrant invalid, from a legal point of view? Surely, in the interests of transparency, shouldn't an independent enquiry be held into the circumstances surrounding the issuance of a Red Notice that implied Assange was as dangerous a criminal as Joseph Kony, and more so than Muammar Gaddafi?
I believe that the growing number of Australians who are waking up to the dire consequences of Assange's extradition - both for him personally, and for freedom of the press - would like to be reassured that the Australian government, in 2010, played no role in the preparation of the 2010 Red Notice?
yours sincerely
James Ricketson
From: James Ricketson, jamesricketson@gmail.com
Subject: MEDIA REQUEST FOR MARINA SIMONCINI, AFP Manager, Communications.
Re: WikiLeaks on Twitter: "We applied for Assange's INTERPOL file over a year ago. INTERPOL has, in violation of policy, still not released http://t.co/f47oaZUr" / Twitter
Date: 12th July 2022 11am AEST
To: media@afp.gov.au
Dear Marina Simoncini
I understand that media requests in relation to Interpol fall under your remit?
On 20th November, 2010, a Red Notice for Julian Assange was issued to law enforcement in all 188 INTERPOL member countries.
As you will be aware, a Red Notice must not be published by Interpol if it violates Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution, which forbids the Organization from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
Given that the issuance of such Red Notices is usually reserved for those alleged to have committed the most heinous of crimes (mass murder, for instance) , I am, in my role as a journalist , trying to find out why such a Notice was issued in relation to Julian Assange who, at the time, had been found guilty of no crime at all, committed anywhere in the world?
I am curious to know what role the Australian government of the day, led by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, may have played in either agreeing to abide by the terms of the 2010 Red Notice, or in questioning its validity under Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution?
I refer specifically to the Wikileaks/Assange request for the file on that Interpol Red Notice for Julian Assange.
I wonder if you could confirm one way or the other, if the file was forwarded to Wikileaks? If not, on what basis was it withheld?
Sources within the AFP inform me that various Australian government officials have, over the years, also requested this file; that requests for access to this file have quite recently been made by the Department of the Attorney General. Is this so?
Given the very real possibility that Julian Assange could, in the not-too-distant future, be extradited to the United States, I would appreciate it if you could respond to this letter with as much haste as possible.
your sincerely
James Ricketson
cc Mark Dreyfus, Attorney General
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