Assange's arrest: Australian govt in trouble

Melbourne, Dec 8: The Australian government has been facing the biggest political dilemma after the arrest of Australian national Julian Assange, the founder of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has embarrassed with the leaked United States diplomatic cables, but at the same time faces acute criticism over political stunt in the arrest of Assange.

Media reported that supporters of Assange in Australia has planned mass agitation against government if Assange is eventually extradited to the United States. Assange is an Australian citizen and a Aussie passport holder.

Australian government has to decide whether to give political support to its arrested citizen, whom they are slamming for the release of thousands of classified documents on his website.

Media reported that Sweden would handover Asssange to US for alleged espionage-related charges. US is struggling to charge case against Assange as none of its crime acts cover the espionage-related prosecution on wikiLeaks.

US may charge a crime under the 1917 Espionage Act which prohibits the transmission of defence-related documents. But this case was never designed for a case regarding to the WikiLeaks.

OneIndia News