Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/law-not-broken-by-wikileaks-publication-of-us-cables-afp/story-fn775xjq-1225972735066
THE Australian Federal Police say they have not yet found any breach of Australian law in the leaking of US diplomatic documents published by WikiLeaks.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said in a statement the government had received advice from the AFP on the matter, after police were asked to determine whether any illegality had occurred.
Mr McClelland noted that, on the information to date, the AFP has “not identified any criminal offences where Australia has jurisdiction and as a result have not commenced an investigation”.
Julia Gillard sparked an intense debate over whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had acted unlawfully after she earlier this month condemned the publishing of embarrassing US cables as “an illegal thing to do”.
Labor MPs in the left-wing parliamentary faction were enraged at the treatment of Mr Assange and demanded the government stop treating him as a criminal and protect his rights as an Australian citizen and whistleblower.
The Prime Minister today said she stood by her remarks, and again branded the publication of the cables “grossly irresponsible”, and repeated that “the theft of those documents is an illegal act”.
Mr McClelland said it had been “prudent” to examine whether any Australian laws had been broken.
“As has previously been stated, given the documents published to date are classified by the United States, the primary jurisdiction for any investigation into the matter remains the United States.
“The government remains extremely concerned about the unauthorised and irresponsible distribution of classified material.”
Mr McClelland warned, however, that the AFP “noted a number of offences which could be applied in the circumstances, depending on whether all the elements of the offence could be proven”.
The government's announcement follows the release on conditional bail in London early today of Mr Assange after nine days in prison.
The Australian founder of WikiLeaks is fighting extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations made by two women, but says his major fear is being handed over to authorities in the US, where there is widespread anger over the leaking of thousands of sensitive US diplomatic documents.
Ms Gillard today confirmed the AFP's findings but defended her own rhetoric in response to the publication of the confidential US cables.
The Prime Minister said she wanted to “clear up” what she described as some “conflation of what are different issues”.
She said that the government had made clear that Mr Assange would be provided consular assistance in fighting extradition.
But this was a separate issue to “theft of the documents”, and repeated her claim that “the theft of those documents is an illegal act”.
“That's properly in the hands of the US authorities to deal with,” she said.
Ms Gillard reaffirmed her view that the “release of all of this documentation has been grossly irresponsible and I stand by the remarks that I've made about this previously”.
“Whilst I know that there are times when people are whistleblowers, that is not the circumstance here, in my view, with WikiLeaks.
“This has been a wholesale release of information.
“There are some people who are fans of this conduct but I most certainly am not.
“The other side needs to be put, which is that, you know, I do believe that this conduct is irresponsible conduct.”
Ms Gillard also warned today that it was important not to make the “slip of suggesting that because something was written in a cable, it is a fact”.
She said confidential cables could identify people who provided information to governments who lived under oppressive regime and the publication of such documents could “have consequences”.
Australian revelations in the leaked cables include the fact that key Labor powerbroker and minister Mark Arbib was designated a “protected” US source who provided information on the inside workings of the government to US officials. Many other Labor figures were also designated “protected” sources and it is understood that the designation is simply given to ensure that information provided by these sources is not shared with other countries.
The cables also revealed the deep concerns held by the then prime minister Kevin Rudd over the international strategy in Afghanistan in 2008, sparking questions about whether these concerns should have been made public.
The cables also revealed that the former prime minister had warned the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2009 that the world must be prepared to use force if Beijing could not be successfully integrated into the international community and that he was a “brutal realist on China”.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said in a statement the government had received advice from the AFP on the matter, after police were asked to determine whether any illegality had occurred.
Mr McClelland noted that, on the information to date, the AFP has “not identified any criminal offences where Australia has jurisdiction and as a result have not commenced an investigation”.
Julia Gillard sparked an intense debate over whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had acted unlawfully after she earlier this month condemned the publishing of embarrassing US cables as “an illegal thing to do”.
Labor MPs in the left-wing parliamentary faction were enraged at the treatment of Mr Assange and demanded the government stop treating him as a criminal and protect his rights as an Australian citizen and whistleblower.
The Prime Minister today said she stood by her remarks, and again branded the publication of the cables “grossly irresponsible”, and repeated that “the theft of those documents is an illegal act”.
Mr McClelland said it had been “prudent” to examine whether any Australian laws had been broken.
“As has previously been stated, given the documents published to date are classified by the United States, the primary jurisdiction for any investigation into the matter remains the United States.
“The government remains extremely concerned about the unauthorised and irresponsible distribution of classified material.”
Mr McClelland warned, however, that the AFP “noted a number of offences which could be applied in the circumstances, depending on whether all the elements of the offence could be proven”.
The government's announcement follows the release on conditional bail in London early today of Mr Assange after nine days in prison.
The Australian founder of WikiLeaks is fighting extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations made by two women, but says his major fear is being handed over to authorities in the US, where there is widespread anger over the leaking of thousands of sensitive US diplomatic documents.
Ms Gillard today confirmed the AFP's findings but defended her own rhetoric in response to the publication of the confidential US cables.
The Prime Minister said she wanted to “clear up” what she described as some “conflation of what are different issues”.
She said that the government had made clear that Mr Assange would be provided consular assistance in fighting extradition.
But this was a separate issue to “theft of the documents”, and repeated her claim that “the theft of those documents is an illegal act”.
“That's properly in the hands of the US authorities to deal with,” she said.
Ms Gillard reaffirmed her view that the “release of all of this documentation has been grossly irresponsible and I stand by the remarks that I've made about this previously”.
“Whilst I know that there are times when people are whistleblowers, that is not the circumstance here, in my view, with WikiLeaks.
“This has been a wholesale release of information.
“There are some people who are fans of this conduct but I most certainly am not.
“The other side needs to be put, which is that, you know, I do believe that this conduct is irresponsible conduct.”
Ms Gillard also warned today that it was important not to make the “slip of suggesting that because something was written in a cable, it is a fact”.
She said confidential cables could identify people who provided information to governments who lived under oppressive regime and the publication of such documents could “have consequences”.
Australian revelations in the leaked cables include the fact that key Labor powerbroker and minister Mark Arbib was designated a “protected” US source who provided information on the inside workings of the government to US officials. Many other Labor figures were also designated “protected” sources and it is understood that the designation is simply given to ensure that information provided by these sources is not shared with other countries.
The cables also revealed the deep concerns held by the then prime minister Kevin Rudd over the international strategy in Afghanistan in 2008, sparking questions about whether these concerns should have been made public.
The cables also revealed that the former prime minister had warned the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2009 that the world must be prepared to use force if Beijing could not be successfully integrated into the international community and that he was a “brutal realist on China”.
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