TOPIC:

Assange is lucky that they have not charged him with simply 'publishing' the secrets as that would be much easier for them to prove. I wonder if he has paid back all the people whom lost money when he skipped bail?

ArkRoyal wrote: Assange is lucky that they have not charged him with simply 'publishing' the secrets as that would be much easier for them to prove. I wonder if he has paid back all the people whom lost money when he skipped bail?

The "secrets" were published in the USA, and the Pentagon Papers precedent established that the 1st amendment will protect reporters and newspapers there.

It is a great pity we don't have a similar protection is Australia - who the New York Times describe as "Australia May Well Be the World’s Most Secretive Democracy".

I don't see that as a compliment.

jack: yes, mate, I am aware of the pentagon precedent don't worry; remember, though, its basis is actually a Supreme Court ruling, one which could be over-turned by a Tory leaning bench in the future.

I thought the Supreme Court was under the control of the (what they would call tories) in the US. Wasn't the most recent appointee a Trump one? Perhaps they could over turn it or perhaps they don't want to.

The provisions of the Crimes Act in Australia back then were pretty clear and there's no public interest defence as I understand it...whether there's a moral public interest consideration when deciding whether to prosecute is another matter.

Maybe not in the Crimes Act, BC - but as I understand it there is a "public interest" test in the Commonwealth DPP prosecution guidelines.

Of course, it is always going to be a big plus on your CV if you (the DPP) can show some high profile scalps - fuck the public interest.

oool: yep, that is true, the tories have just got the numbers, in theory; naturally, they also need a relevant case to come before the bench so we will see what happens. Unfortunately, as you know, the yanks tend to test the court on a regular basis. Have you seen some of the hard line anti-abortion laws being passed in the Deep South? They are preparring a move to challenge 'Roe versus Wade', or so it seems.

True, the Alabama Governor has recently signed a bill that was passed there which will criminalize abortion if/when it takes effect. Some commentators argue this is a precursor to challenging Roe v Wade, something which has been on the hard conservative agenda for a while.

There's a war of words between Peter Dutton and Albo. ATM.PD is not taking a backward step on this.

I find it comical the federal police announced Friday afternoon they
had dropped their investigation into how the security briefing was leaked to the media in relation to the medivac bill. What is the difference between this and the other two..
Just seems strange to me. Either the gov or the federal police need to be explaning some clarification here? What is the difference between one piece of leaked info and another?
Or are journalists just an easy target?