Julian Assange will not be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s office despite breaching Australian law by identifying an ASIO officer in the recent unredacted cables that were recently published by Wikileaks, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The newspaper reports that the department is currently not preparing to investigate or prosecute Assange because “he did not operate in Australia”.
This is in contrast with the US Government’s response, where the Justice Department and the Pentagon are looking to conduct criminal investigations and prosecute him under the 1917 Espionage Act.
However, while not investigating, Attorney General Robert McClelland has condemned the move in a statement on Friday, saying, “On occasions before this week, WikiLeaks redacted identifying features where the safety of individuals or national security could be put at risk.”
Diplomatic cables about Australia have been recently released, including that the involvement of the Motion Picture Association of America in the AFACT trial and the names of 12 Australians being listed in the US “no fly” list.
Assange is in London currently awaiting a decision for his extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual misconduct.