WikiLeaks probe could take a year [Australia]

WikiLeaks probe could take a year [Australia]

news.ninemsn.com.au

The federal government has indicated an Australian Federal Police investigation into whether WikiLeaks committed a criminal act could take more than a year.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has compared the saga of leaked US diplomatic cables to former Treasury mole Godwin Grech, who sparked the OzCar affair in mid-2009.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Mr McClelland pointed out how it took the commonwealth director of public prosecutions almost 18 months to decide against taking legal action.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Can you believe this stuff??

Australia has laws..The average man on the street is supposed to know them all off by heart because simply put, ignorance is no excuse.....
That's what every judge or the tax office will tell you..

So why do you think it may take our best and brightest a year to decide if Julian Assange/Wikileaks have broken any Australian laws????

My brain is fried thinking about it.....
How is the average guy supposed to know what is illegal in an instant and yet our leaders say this..?????

Having ranted enough...
I'd say it's a Government ploy to buy more time while they demonise Assange for their US buddies...

news.ninemsn.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Its quite obvious that the Australian Goverment trotted out the US line on Wikileaks and discovered that it wan't popular with the Australian public. Now they have back peddled and put the cue back in the rack, for a while, wait and see what happens and then perhaps take it again when the heat has died down and use it to ush thru laws that make what Wikileacks has has done illegal.

it's as plain as day.

cheers

reply to post by bussoboy


Yes, that's how I see it..
Gillard buying time before committing to help an Australian citizen..
Sad really as he has much support here but the PM is making him sound like a criminal..

But even criminals are innocent until proven guilty..
Seems Gillard has reversed that thinking..

It's amazing..Our PM, Julia Gillard hasn't got the time to answer questions regarding an Australian citizen, but she finds time to be on call for an American talk show host, Oprah..

I'm seriously disgusted..

"Hello Melbourne. You're looking good Melbourne," she said as she took the stage, flanked by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu.

news.ninemsn.com.au...

Couldn't our PM find time during her busy schedule to maybe speak to the UK Government and ask them why they were holding an Australian citizen without bail on a minor charge that was shaky at best?

Nah, rather suck up to an american celebrity..

reply to post by backinblack


You mean it could take a year to pass new legislation? As the laws stand, there is no law broken here in Australia by Julian!

reply to post by bluemirage5


Even if they pass new legislation, they can't make it retroactive...they have to find something in existing law, which looks as though it doesn't exist, so it's going to take them a year to look for the needle in the haystack.

There have been some high profile people speaking out publicly against this move to suppress free speech. Yesterday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for example. So, yes, perhaps they are distancing themselves from the US witch hunt - for now. In practice and out of the public eye, the collusion will be as solid as ever.

In my opinion...this WHOLE thing is starting to reak!

reply to post by wcitizen

Even if they pass new legislation, they can't make it retroactive...they have to find something in existing law, which looks as though it doesn't exist, so it's going to take them a year to look for the needle in the haystack.

Doesn't stop the US doing it...I heard it mentioned they may do just that..
Write a new law to convict him.....

The U.S. can't pass a law making publishing leaked documents illegal, and then use it to prosecute Mr. Assange or Wikileaks for something they did before the law existed. Its called an Ex post facto law (after the fact) and is forbidden by the Constitution. Ross

Originally posted by Ross 54
The U.S. can't pass a law making publishing leaked documents illegal, and then use it to prosecute Mr. Assange or Wikileaks for something they did before the law existed. Its called an Ex post facto law (after the fact) and is forbidden by the Constitution. Ross

Oh I agree..But I did hear one of the clowns in the WH mention it..