AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CU)_The father of Julian Assange, has called on New Zealand to offer asylum for his son, until his legal battle concludes.
A British court on Monday (Jan 4) ruled that the WikiLeaks co-founder could not be extradited to the US, owing to health concerns as he was at risk of taking his own life, if he were to be held in isolation, although US prosecutors are set to appeal the ruling.
The United States has accused the 49-year-old of 18 offences in relation to WikiLeaks’s publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents and diplomatic cables about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in 2010 and 2011, which they say put lives at risk.
Assange’s legal battle could take years to complete and he is not allowed to return to his home country, Australia, until that happened. Therefore, his father, John Shipton, has co-signed a letter pushing for New Zealand to grant him asylum until the legal issues are resolved.
One of Assange’s lawyers, Tauranga-based Craig Tuck, said this would be an ideal option for his client, especially in terms of safety, as New Zealand has a fantastic human rights record and would provide the security his client needs.
He also added that if New Zealand favourably responds to this request, “there’d be a whole set of conditions that would be available to him (Assange) to progress matters, as opposed to being locked in a high security jail”.
Moreover, Assange has already spent almost a decade either in prison for self-imposed confinement, and therefore, a move to New Zealand would also help his client’s wellbeing, Tuck said.
