News in Brief

17th December 2010

Australian Publishers Association Statement on WikiLeaks

As part of the charter of the APA, we uphold a publishers right of freedom to publish and freedom of expression. Julian Assange is an Australian citizen and WikiLeaks is a publisher.

"The members of the Australian Publishers Association value the freedom to publish and the right of a publisher to release information that is perceived to be in the public interest without fear of retribution.

We deplore the calls for violence against the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, an Australian citizen exercising his right to publish freely.

We urge the government of the United States of America to respect the due process of law which underpins the fundamental freedom to write and publish – and allow WikiLeaks and its founder to do so, without the private or public threat of intimidation, or harassment of their commercial partners, to prevent publication.

We call on the governments of Australia and the United States of America to recognise and uphold the right of WikiLeaks as a publisher, to freedom of expression."

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