Open letter to NZ Parliament on Julian Assange – Free Assange NZ

NZ Parliament select committee ‘believe they have no jusrisdiction’ to recommend asylum for Assange in New Zealand Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade (FADT) select committee’s report on the petition; “Provide Julian Assange permanent political asylum in New Zealand” found they “believe that the scope of this petition is outside of our jurisdiction”. The FADT report was reported Friday 26 October. Parliament has the matter on its Order Paper for today’s sitting.

Greg Rzesniowiecki petitioner and spokesperson for Free Assange NZ says, “The petition is simple and well within the ambit of the FADT committee, why else would the Clerk allocate the petition to the committee with scope given it is Parliament’s eye to the outer world?”

The petition asks; “That the House of Representatives urge the Government to provide Julian Assange with permanent political asylum in New Zealand, including a guarantee of safe passage from the United Kingdom to New Zealand.”

Free Assange NZ have written an open letter to all NZ Parliamentarians and the Governor General. The open letter offers the facts of Julian Assange’s arbitrary detention in the Ecuador Embassy in London England. It addresses the merits of the petition. It also addresses jurisdiction.

Rzesniowiecki reports, “We make the case for the New Zealand Government to intercede in the matter, offer Assange political asylum in NZ and negotiate a guarantee of safe passage from the Ecuador embassy to safe haven in New Zealand.”

The letter notes that the NZ Government has expressed interest in justice in Turkey and Saudi Arabia with the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. NZ is concerning itself in Australia’s treatment of refugees offering to take 150 people currently detained on Nauru Island.

New Zealand is upgrading it’s domestic law designed to protect whistleblowers with Monday 29 October announcement by Minister Chris Hipkins of proposed amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act 2000.

New Zealand asserts its independent foreign policy – interceding to free Julian Assange journalist and editor, peace lover and protector of whistleblowers who reveal and disclose war crimes, aggression, corrupt and criminal behaviour would be a great Next Step*.