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The
"Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group" said it had
informed the U.S. envoy of "the widespread concern in Australia"
about the continued detention of Assange, an Australian citizen.
The meeting comes ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's scheduled
visit to Australia this month for the Quad leaders' summit.
"There are a range of views about Assange in the Australian
community and the members of the Parliamentary Group reflect
that diversity of views. But what is not in dispute in the Group
is that Mr Assange is being treated unjustly," the lawmakers
said in a statement after meeting Kennedy in Canberra.
Assange is battling extradition from Britain to the United
States where he is wanted on criminal charges over the release
of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables in
2010. Washington says the release of the documents had put lives
in danger.
Assange's supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who
has been victimised because he exposed U.S. wrongdoing,
including in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The U.S. embassy in Australia confirmed the meeting in a tweet
but did not share further details.
Assange's brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Reuters he felt the
meeting was an "important acknowledgement" by the U.S.
government that "Julian's freedom is important to millions of
Australians".
"After (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) expressed frustration
with the Biden administration, this is now a test for Ambassador
Kennedy to see if she can move Washington on this issue," he
said.
Albanese, who has been advocating for the release of Assange,
last week aired his frustration for not yet finding a diplomatic
fix over the issue.
Support for Assange among U.S. policy makers remains low. Only a
few members of Congress have come forward in support of the
demand to drop charges against him.
If extradited, Assange faces a sentence of up to 175 years in a
maximum security prison.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney and Kanishka Singh in
Washington; Editing by Michael Perry and Ed Osmond)
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