WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange, in self-imposed “exile” in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy, will be the focus of Australian thinkers at La Trobe University’s public seminar this month.
Melbourne-bred Assange has lived in the embassy since June, battling extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.
His lawyer Julian Burnside will be one of the experts.
The human rights lawyer will argue that the fact Ecuador granted him asylum supports Mr Assange’s concerns for his rights if extradited.
Greg Barns, the national campaign director of the new WikiLeaks Party that is running federal government senate candidates in Victoria, NSW and Western Australia, will talk about the party’s emphasis on freedom of speech, human rights, government transparency and privacy issues.
The university vice chancellor’s fellow Robert Manne will talk about Mr Assange’s role in challenging government secrecy and support ing the public’s right to know.
“Assange’s importance is in the revolutionary threat that his idea of publishing damaging documentary information sent by anonymous insiders to WikiLeaks poses to governments and corporations across the globe,’’ Mr Manne said.
WikiLeaks caused an uproar in 2012 when it published 250,000 United States diplomatic cables revealing such secrets as Saudi Arabia urging US military action against Iran.
The seminar will be chaired by Mary Kostakidis, former SBS presenter who chaired the Sydney Peace Foundation when it awarded the Human Rights Medal to Mr Assange in 2011.
The free seminar is on Thursday, May 23, 5.30 pm to 7pm, at the John Scott Meeting House at La Trobe University in Bundoora.
