Assange hits back at Biden

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/21/3098018.htm


Assange hits back at Biden

Updated 2 hours 49 minutes ago


WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pushed back after US vice-president Joe Biden labelled him a dangerous "high-tech terrorist."

The 39-year-old Australian also told the Spanish daily El Pais that he was in "a condition of high-tech arrest" although he was released on bail by a British court last week while he fights extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sex crimes.

Asked whether he thought Mr Assange was a high-tech terrorist or a whistleblower akin to those who released the Pentagon Papers - a series of top-secret documents revealing US military policy in Vietnam - Mr Biden said: "I would argue that it's closer to being hi-tech terrorist."

And he said the US Justice Department was mulling how to take legal action against the Australian.

But Mr Assange responded by noting that "terrorism is defined as the use of violence for political purposes."

"Biden's administration continues to take offence at our organisation and the press with a violent or political objective, so who are the terrorists?" he said.

Australian human rights lawyer Kellie Tranter also attacked Mr Biden over his remarks and she accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard of standing by while an ally takes away Mr Assange's presumption of innocence.

Ms Tranter says both Ms Gillard and Mr Biden are denying Mr Assange his presumption of innocence.

"Joe Biden's comments are utterly unacceptable, and I think Prime Minister Gillard should be objecting to them having been made in relation to an Australian national, particularly when we've already heard calls for Mr Assange's assassination," she said.

"So this is not behaviour we would expect of an ally towards one of our own."

Mr Assange has enraged Washington by obtaining a cache of some 250,000 US diplomatic cables and slowly releasing the documents through his whistleblowing website, often causing huge embarrassment in world capitals.

He complained to El Pais that he was "in a condition of high-tech arrest."

"That is I have electronic jewellery which means if I leave the house outside of curfew times then an alarm will go off. It is very Orwellian," he said.

Mr Assange said he was also required to report to a police station once a day, which means he cannot stray far from his house.

"That does interfere with my work, it means no secret meetings with government sources or others who may be willing to assist me," he added.

"It means it is much easier to monitor my communication. That is a strong and wrongful impediment to my work."

He is staying at Ellingham Hall, a mansion on a friend's 600-acre country estate in eastern England, where he must live while on bail, pending ongoing extradition proceedings which may take months.

Media reports suggest that US prosecutors are trying to build a case against him on the grounds that he encouraged a US soldier, Bradley Manning, to steal US cables from a government computer and pass them to WikiLeaks.

Mr Assange has denied knowing Private Manning. Tweet