GROOM FOCUS IN FIGHT TO BRING SON HOME
JULIAN Assange’s father, John Shipton, will be in Toowoomba today calling for every Groom candidate to back his son’s release from Belmash Prison.
The WikiLeaks founder has been held in custody for more than three years as he fights extradition to the US to face 17 charges under the US Espionage Act of 1917
If found guilty Assange faces 170 years in jail and will make history as the first journalist convicted under laws written to stamp out spying during the First World War.
The charges relate to publishing hundreds of thousands of sensitive military documents that detailed abuses committed by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Shipton’s visit to Toowoomba is part of a national campaign rolled during the Federal Election to pressure the next crop of national leaders into acting.
He will be at the Strand Cinema tonight for screening of Ithaka, a film documenting the global fight for Assange’s release.
Sitting Groom MP Garth Hamilton is unlikely to be swayed.
“Australia is unable to intervene in the legal processes of another country, just as we would not accept another country intervening in Australia’s legal proceedings,” he said.
Ithaka screens at 7pm.