"Don't hunt down my son," says mother of WikiLeaks founder

[Ma Chao]

"Don't hunt down my son," says mother of WikiLeaks founder

CANBERRA | Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:24pm EST

CANBERRA (Reuters) - The mother of Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Wednesday she was distressed by an international police alert for her son's arrest and did not want him "hunted down and jailed." Global police agency Interpol issued a "red notice" on Tuesday to assist in the arrest of Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, who is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of sexual crimes.

Assange, 39, a former computer hacker now at the center of a global controversy after WikiLeaks released a trove of classified U.S. diplomatic cables at the weekend, denies the Swedish allegations. Christine Assange, who runs a puppet theater in Australia's Queensland state, said she was worried about her son's wellbeing as Australia's government joined the United States in launching an investigation into whether Assange and WikiLeaks had broken security or criminal laws.

"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," she told Australian radio. "A lot of stuff that's written about me and Julian is untrue." Assange, who was born in Townsville, Queensland has gone underground since WikiLeaks controversially began publishing more than 250,000 secret U.S. government documents. Assange's arrest warrant was issued by Sweden's International Public Prosecution Office in Gothenburg on November 18.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor)

 

[General Veers]

Interpol posts wanted notice for WikiLeaks founder


Wednesday December 1, 2010

Interpol posts wanted notice for WikiLeaks founder

LONDON (Reuters) - Interpol issued a "red notice" on Tuesday to assist in the arrest of Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, who is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of sexual crimes. Assange, a former computer hacker now at the centre of a global controversy after WikiLeaks released a trove of classified U.S. diplomatic cables at the weekend, denies the Swedish allegations.

<table align="right" border="0" width="20%"><tbody><tr><td>

</td></tr><tr><td>WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange attends a seminar at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation headquarters in Stockholm August 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Scanpix/Bertil Ericson/Files)
</td></tr></tbody></table> The website of Interpol, the international police agency, said anyone with information on the Australian-born Assange, 39, should contact their national or local police. Red notices allow arrest warrants issued by national police authorities to be circulated to other countries to facilitate arrests and help possible extradition.

Assange's current whereabouts are not known and he is believed to move from country to country. A Swedish court on Nov. 18 ordered the detention of Assange. The prosecutor's office had started an investigation into allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion against Assange in September.

Assange's lawyer, Bjorn Hurtig, told journalists after the hearings he expected a European arrest warrant would be issued for Assange, who had sometimes visited Sweden in the past, and that he would probably appeal.

Assange has called the allegations baseless and criticised what he has called a legal circus in Sweden, where he had been seeking to build a base in order to benefit from its strict journalist protection laws. WikiLeaks has angered the United States by releasing more than 250,000 State Department cables exposing the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy, including brutally candid assessments of world leaders.

WikiLeaks had in October released nearly 400,000 classified U.S. files on the Iraq war, which Assange said showed 15,000 more Iraqi civilian deaths had occurred than thought.

(Reporting by Michel Rose; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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