WikiLeaks broke no Australian laws
ABC
December 17, 2010, 2:12 pm 115 Comments
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says it has not found any breaches of Australian law by Julian Assange's WikiLeaks organisation.
"The AFP has completed its evaluation of the material available and has not established the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction," the force said in a statement released today.
"Where additional cables are published and criminal offences are suspected, these matters should be referred to the AFP for evaluation."
Attorney-General Robert McClelland says it was "prudent" for the Government to have referred the matter to the AFP.
Mr Assange, who is wanted for questioning on sexual assault charges in Sweden, was freed on bail by the High Court in London overnight.
He is now at a friend's country house in Suffolk, where he must live until the start of his extradition hearing on February 7.
Mr Assange has denied the Swedish charges against him and his legal team have said they are worried about the possibility of him being extradited to face possible espionage charges in the US.
WikiLeaks is currently releasing around 250,000 US diplomatic cables which have caused major embarrassment for the US and some of its allies.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has previously condemned Mr Assange's actions, calling them "illegal".
But she later moderated her language, saying it was the theft of the US cables that was the illegal act, while Mr Assange's role was "grossly irresponsible".
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Stephen Smith says a Defence taskforce has found WikiLeaks cables about Iraq released earlier in the year did not damage the national security interest.
Earlier this year WikiLeaks released batches of documents relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Defence had already said the leaked documents on Afghanistan did not damage Australia's interests.
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