On 17/02/2020 23:05, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
Queen Elizabeth II Won't Intervene in 'Political' Case Against Julian Assange
https://sputniknews.com/world/202002171078333304-queen-elizabeth-ii-wont-intervene-in-political-case-against-julian-assange/
The development comes as several politicians including Australian MPs have
spoken against prosecuting the journalist and called for his immediate release.
Senator for Tasmania Peter Stuart Whish-Wilson called on the Australian
government to intervene and bring Assange back home, saying journalism is not
espionage.
Queen Elizabeth II won’t get involved in the Julian Assange case because
she "remains non-political at all times" says a letter sent to activist
Christopher Lonsdale. Last month, he wrote a letter in support of Assange
asking Her Majesty to pardon the whistleblower. "The persecution of Mr Assange,
if taken to its ultimate conclusion (his death, or incarceration for life),
will lead to destruction of press freedom, and freedom of speech globally".
https://twitter.com/kungfu_mandarin/status/1229038902452813831
On 16 February, Lonsdale received the reply from Buckingham Palace, which
said that the Queen would not intervene in the case. The activist then posted
it on his Twitter account.
I have received a reply back from Buckingham Palace following my letter
& petition to the Queen in support of #JulianAssange some weeks ago. The
response says, basically, that the Queen cannot intervene in issues which are
Political. This should be used in court. pic.twitter.com/GJVRiAXcTV
— Chris Lonsdale⏳ (@kungfu_mandarin) February 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/kungfu_mandarin/status/1228994305030643714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This is text of the letter from the Palace that I have copied from
https://sputniknews.com/world/202002171078333304-queen-elizabeth-ii-wont-intervene-in-political-case-against-julian-assange/
:
" I have been asked to write in response to your letter to The Queen from which
careful note has been taken of your comments regarding Mr Julian Assange.
I must tell you, however, that as a constitutional Sovereign, Her Majesty acts
on the advice of her Ministers and remain strictly non-political at all times.
This is, therefore, not a matter in which The Queen would intervene. "
The reality, of course, is that the Queen *never* gets involved in *any* day to
day issues. It doesn't matter whether or not the issue is arguably political --
she never gets publicly involved in any (allegedly) criminal issues either. She
never takes any public action. She has ministers to do all that and the
constitutional convention is that she leaves them to get on with it.
In *private* she might well comment to the PM if she thinks it right to do so
when she meets him for her private briefings. Who knows, she might well have
done so in this case. Personally, I would not be overly surprised if she had
done so. But it will always be in private.
The phrase "careful note has been taken" might well mean something of value.
(Or not, who can tell).
In any case, the lack of public action from her is not surprising and does not
tell us anything about whether or not she has taken any private action about
the Julian Assange issue. Even if she did take some private action (e.g.
speaking to the PM), it would have limited real world effect. Her ministers are
the ones with power to act. And the words "non-political" in the letter from
the Palace should not be taken literally.
