Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the whistleblower website Wikileaks, says he had his passport taken away from him at Melbourne Airport and was later told by customs officials that it was about to be cancelled.
Last year Wikileaks published a confidential Australian blacklist of websites to be banned under the government’s proposed internet filter.
The Age has been told that Assange’s passport is classified ”normal” on the immigration database, meaning the Wikileaks director can travel freely on it.
Assange told The Age his passport was taken from him by customs officials at Melbourne Airport when he entered the country last week after he was told ”it was looking worn”.
When the passport was returned to him after about 15 minutes, he says he was told by authorities that it was going to be or was cancelled.
[…]
Assange said half an hour after his passport was returned to him, he was approached by an Australian Federal Police officer who searched one of his bags and asked him about his criminal record relating to computer hacking offences in 1991.
Well you can be sure they wont be publishing any more documents about Australia now!
Should’ve taken the train.
Damaged passports are examined for forgery and if the electronic tag has been tampered with or is damaged it is normal for the airport police to be called. Standard procedure folks, nothing to see here, move along.
#3 You didn’t notice the second conversation or maybe you’re a pulling our legs.
That was either a very odd conversation both times or a _set down slave and shut up message_; nothing to see here, move along.
#4 Of course if your passport looks like it might have been ‘modified’ its going to be inspected and your record brought up to see if there are any flags for criminal activity.
Thats one of the few legitimate tasks of any passport/immigration officer has left.
This really is a ‘nothing to see here’ moment.
Not to sound like Schmidt from google, but if this guy didn’t want to be ‘harassed’ at the airport he should have taken more care about protecting his identity when releasing classified government documents or not deliberately broken the law in the first place.
So…?
This was nothing more than the mafiaso foot soldier saying “we know where you live and where your children go to school.”
[Yep agreed – h.]
#4 sargasso
The Federal Police do not deal with general police issues and are certainly not the ‘airport police’, they are more like the FBI.
#8 Cap’nKangaroo
Yep.
Above: “Damaged passports are examined for forgery and if the electronic tag has been tampered with or is damaged it is normal for the airport police to be called. Standard procedure folks, nothing to see here, move along.”
This is assuming his passport was actually “worn” or “damaged”.
Oh thats right, the ausies are like the brits. Citizens are guilty until they can prove themselves inocent.
Ulturnatively, this may be an example of the ausie gov. harassing a citizen because they don’t like something that the citizen in doing, even though the citizen has broken no law. Well tyrants have to start somewhere.
nunyac
1/ Everyone gets hassled at Melbourne airport, Australian border control is way over the top. I’ve had a far easier time getting into the US, Germany, UK, NZ and Switzerland than I have returning to Melbourne.
2/@LDA The federal police do have control of security at Melbourne airport, it isn’t a Vicpol jurisdiction.
3/ @nunyac Nice try but we aren’t as bad as some. For example we don’t have random immigration checkpoints scattered through our country shaking down innocent citizens…
Governments: worship thy new God or be abused.
Sums it up quite well.
@alphgeek – no you have your Navy chase off Norwegian merchant ships that picked up refugees from a sinking raft.
Hope no Aussies ever need rescuing in the North Sea.
@Nobody
Do you really want to start a race regarding which of our governments tramples our rights more? Surely we’d both lose. Or win, depending how you want to come at it.
My reply to Nunyac wasn’t intended to advocate that the Aus. govt is any kind of wonderful – believe me, it isn’t – merely to point out that “people in glass houses…”