WikiLeaks founder’s mother worried after Interpol alert
By IANSWednesday, December 1, 2010
SYDNEY - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s Australia-based mother, who is distressed after an alert for her son was issued by Interpol, said: “Obviously I don’t want him hunted down and jailed.”
Interpol issued the order Tuesday for the arrest of Julian Assange in connection with a Swedish investigation of sexual assault allegations. The action comes soon after the publication of 250,000 classified documents earlier this week.
Julian’s mother Christine Assange told ABC Radio that she was concerned for her son’s welfare.
“He’s my son and I love him, and obviously I don’t want him hunted down and jailed.”
“I’m reacting as any mother would - I’m distressed,” AAP quoted her as saying.
US Ambassador Jeff Bleich said the US and Australian governments had not held discussions about any plans to apprehend Julian.
Bleich told reporters in Canberra Wednesday: “That’s for the law enforcement authorities.”
WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website at the centre of a storm over leaking 250,000 US diplomatic despatches, is a not-for-profit media organisation launched in 2007.
Founded by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks with the slogan “We open governments” posted in April 2010 a video from a 2007 incident in which Iraqi civilians were killed by US forces, on a website called Collateral Murder.
In July, WikiLeaks released Afghan War Diary, a compilation of more than 76,900 documents about the war in Afghanistan not previously available for public review.
In October, the group released a package of almost 400,000 documents called the Iraq War Logs.
