Gotcha! proof Australian Govt knew of Wikileaks Grand Jury and sealed indictment…

Updated…

Trying to find proof that the Gillard Government knew of a Wikileaks Grand Jury and indictment is not easy, particular given that Government’s preference for obscurantism and issuing meaningless statements that say nothing. However, buried deep within a log of Australian Government files there appears to be proof of just that. We provide a link to download that log (the third document listed below) as well as to another log of interest and a letter from Julian Burnside and highlights of relevant sections for each. We also include links to legal documents pertaining to the Wikileaks Grand Jury (this is more for the Gillard Government, as regular Darker Net readers know all about this).

Document 1: Letter from Julian Burnside QC: to download click here .
This letter, from Julian Burnside, the Australian barrister acting on behalf of Julian Assange, was dated 30 June 2012 and was addressed to the Australian Attorney-General. It should be read in full. Here are highlights:
Page 1:”The allegations being canvassed publicly by many senior figures in the USA include allegations of espionage, material support for terrorism, assistance to the enemy, and conspiracy with a serving military officer to carry out acts of computer fraud and abuse incorporated by the USA Patriot Act 2001 into a “Federal Crimes of Terrorism” list. The likely charges, the attitude of the US government towards Assange and the known circumstances of placement of individuals on comparable charges mean that he will, very likely, be imprisoned in conditions that mirror those experienced by Bradley Manning.”
Page 2-3: Burnside explains what he believes happened in Sweden re the allegations of sexual assault.

Document 2: Australian Govt released documents (part 1) – to download click here .
Page 33-35: Letter from Attorney-General’s office to Ms. Gareth Pierce, the British lawyer acting on behalf if Julian Assange, in response to a letter received from her and stating how the Australian Government has the discretionary power to accept or refuse any request from the US Government for Mr. Assange to be extradited.
Page 38-41: Letter from Ms. Gareth Pierce to Kevin Rudd re Mr. Assange, extradition matters and the danger to his life.
Pages 58-60: memo between Attorney-General staff explains the concept of temporary surrender and how if Mr. Assange was extradited to Sweden he could be loaned to America should the US authorities issue an extradition order against him.

Document 3: Australian Govt released documents (part 2) – to download click here .
Page 3-5: from Julian Burnside: “On behalf of Assange I ask the following questions… Has Australia asked the US authorities:
a) whether the FBI or any other US authority has investigated or is investigating B [sic] ? And if so has it concluded its investigations?; b) whether a grand jury has been convened to assess charges against Assange and (if so) whether it has concluded its deliberations?; c) whether a grand jury has found Assange should be charged with any and what offence?; d) whether an indictment of Assange has been prepared?; e) whether it intends to seek to have Assange transferred from Sweden to the USA?; f) whether the US authorities have considered ways in which Assange may be transferred to the US?”
Note: the Australian Govt redacted questions a), e) and f) but Darker Net has inserted the original text.
(The document then quotes from various sources that show that the grand jury referred to exists as well as evidence of a sealed indictment.)

Now ignore all the Govt twaddle and jump to page 62 of this document to read this interesting question, dated 20 July 2012, relayed by Annette Willing, Assistant Secretary, Security Law branch, Attorney-General’s department , to her colleagues in preparation for a ’4 Corners’ TV programme interview with Attorney-General Nicola Roxon: “…What is your response to the fact that there is now evidence in the form of a published subpoena that a US grand jury is examining Wikileaks activities with a view to issuing indictments” . The official response to this question was interesting and agrees that an investigation was in process: “We are aware of reports that a US Justice Department spokesperson has said there continues to be an investigation into Wikileaks” though this response added that there had been no reports of prosecution being taken (which is obvious). Of course, the Gillard Government has always been aware of the Wikileaks Grand Jury but has consistently refused to admit to this: the significance here is that a senior official from the Attorney-GeneraI’s office, in preparing answers for her boss, has acknowledged, albeit in a round-about way, the existence of the Wikileaks Grand Jury (and, by implication, indictments). Note: hyperlinks added by Darker Net.

Note, too, that David House was subpoenaed to attend the Wikileaks Grand Jury and was questioned for approximately one hour, beginning at 4:00pm ET. He invoked his Fifth Amendment rights to remain silent. He read from the below statement at 5:00pm ET in the plaza outside of the United States District Court at 401 Courthouse Square in Alexandria, VA:
“The Department of Justice (DoJ) is attempting to codify a task it started over 40 years ago: the political regulation of journalism. The same climate of intimidation that surrounded the Pentagon Papers trial persists to this day as the DoJ seeks to limit the freedoms of the Fourth Estate, using the pretense of alleged violations of the Espionage Act. The show trial that is now underway in Alexandria VA has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for regulating the media. Using Nixonian fear tactics that were honed during the Pentagon Papers investigation, the DoJ is attempting to dismantle a major media organization–WikiLeaks–and indict its editor, Julian Assange. The DoJ’s ever-widening net has now come to encompass academics, students, and journalists in the Cambridge area. The Administration’s goal is to force these individuals to testify against this media organization in an attempt to cast its publications and those of its media partners –the New York Times, the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and El Pais — as acts of espionage. The government has also violated my Fourth Amendment rights by executing a warrantless seizure on my laptop in an attempt to identify, target and ensnare Cambridge-based supporters of WikiLeaks. It is my conviction that the American people must call for a cessation of the Department of Justice’s politically motivated harassment.”

Finally… According to Michael Ratner, Assange’s US lawyer, this is what the number allocated to the Wikileaks Grand Jury means… “There’s a Grand Jury currently sitting in Alexandria, Virginia and the Grand Jury’s number – and its interesting the Grand Jury’s number is 10 standing for the year it began, GJ which is Grand Jury and then 3793. Three is the Conspiracy Statute in the United States. 793 is the Espionage Statute. So what they’re investigating is 3793: conspiracy to commit espionage.”

See also:
http://darkernet.in/assange-us-indictment-10gj379-revealed-australian-govt-claims-ignorance-pilger-article-redacted-by-swdeish-newspaper/
http://darkernet.in/assanges-lawyer-confirms-wikileaks-grand-jury-charges/
http://darkernet.in/wikileaks-indictment-due-document-shows-australian-govt-knew-of-grand-jury/
http://darkernet.in/more-evidence-of-us-indictment-against-assangewikileaks/

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