WikiLeaks accuses Australia of worst suppression in ‘living memory’

LONDON: WikiLeaks has accused Australia of the worst suppression order in "living memory" which bans Australian media from reporting on a multinational corruption case for reasons of national security.

Whistleblower Julian Assange on Wednesday published the details of the "unprecedented gag order" issued by the Australian government.

The super injunction passed by the Supreme Court of the state of Victoria prohibits media organizations from publishing material on a multi-million-dollar graft case involving high-ranking officials from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). WikiLeaks has said the gag order "effectively blacks out the largest high-level corruption case in Australia".

WikiLeaks released the "unprecedented Australian censorship order" with the super-injunction invoking "national security" grounds to prevent reporting about the case, by anyone, in order to "prevent damage to Australia's international relations".

The court-issued gag order follows the secret June 19, 2014 indictment of seven senior executives from subsidiaries of Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The case concerns allegations of multi-million dollar inducements made by agents of the RBA subsidiaries Securency and Note Printing Australia in order to secure contracts for the supply of Australian-style polymer bank notes to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries.

The suppression order lists 17 individuals, including "any current or former Prime Minister of Malaysia", "Truong Tan San, currently President of Vietnam", "Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, currently President of Indonesia since 2004", "Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former President of Indonesia (2001-2004) and current leader of the PDI-P political party" and 14 other senior officials and relatives from those countries, who specifically may not be named in connection with the corruption investigation.

The document also specifically bans the publication of the order itself as well as an affidavit affirmed last month by Australia's representative to Asean Gillian Bird, who has just been appointed as Australia's permanent representative to the United Nations.

WikiLeaks says "The gag order effectively blacks out the largest high-level corruption case in Australia and the region. The last known blanket suppression order of this nature was granted in 1995 and concerned the joint US-Australian intelligence spying operation against the Chinese Embassy in Canberra."

Assange said "With this order, the worst in living memory, the Australian government is not just gagging the Australian press, it is blindfolding the Australian public. This is not simply a question of the Australian government failing to give this international corruption case the public scrutiny it is due. foreign minister Julie Bishop must explain why she is threatening every Australian with imprisonment in an attempt to cover up an embarrassing corruption scandal involving the Australian government."

He added "The concept of national security is not meant to serve as a blanket phrase to cover up serious corruption allegations involving government officials, in Australia or elsewhere. It is in the public interest for the press to be able to report on this case, which concerns the subsidiaries of the Australian central bank. Who is brokering our deals, and how are we brokering them as a nation? Corruption investigations and secret gag orders for 'national security' reasons are strange bedfellows. It is ironic that it took Tony Abbott to bring the worst of Asian Values to Australia."

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WikiLeaks accuses Australia of worst suppression in 'living memory'