Australian Parliament wants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange back home, not sent to US

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he hopes for an amicable end to the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after lawmakers pssing a motion calling for the Australian citizen to be allowed to return to his home country. Albanese told Parliament that the days before a British court hears Assange’s appeal next week against extradition to the United States on espionage charges are a “critical period.” Albanese congratulated independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie for moving a motion passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday that called on the United States and Britain to bring the “matter to a close so that Mr. Assange can return home to his family in Australia.”