The British High Court decision on December 10 to allow Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States is dangerous and an attack on us all.
It continues Britain's 10-year persecution of Assange for his public interest journalism.
By bringing Assange's extradition a step closer it endorses the US government's extraterritorial application of its laws. This is despite the "crimes" he is alleged to have committed happened when he was not in the US.
The decision is an attack on the rights of all of us to know what crimes and misdeeds states (including our own) are committing. This drawn-out, tortured process despite not having been convicted of a crime is about making an example of Assange to deter all journalists and whistleblowers.
It is an indictment on the Australian government's signing up to AUKUS — a war alliance which is designed to uphold imperialism and attack citizens' rights in our three nations.
By failing to oppose the extradition of a journalist to the US whose security apparatus planned his assassination over what he chose to publish, the Australian government is revealed as utter hypocrites. It is complicit in the crimes that will be committed against Assange if the extradition goes ahead.
If the federal government was committed to human rights, it would be actively, publicly campaigning for Assange's release. It would also be prosecuting those at the top of the food chain who bear responsibility for the crimes WikiLeaks exposed.
[Kamala Emanuel is running for Socialist Alliance in the Queensland Senate.]