The Queen v. Julian Paul Assange
-
Upload
anna-ferreira -
Category
Documents
-
view
78 -
download
2
description
Transcript of The Queen v. Julian Paul Assange
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
COUNTY COURT
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
MELBOURNE
THURSDAY 5 DECEMBER 1996
BEFORE HIS HONOUR JUDGE
MEDIA ROSS
COPY
THE QUEEN v. JULIAN PAUL ASSANGE
MS L. TAYLOR appeared on behalf of the Crown.
MR P. GALBALLY appeared on behalf of the Accused.
VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT REPORTING SERVICE167 Queen Street, Melbourne - Telephone 9603 2403
1 HIS HONOUR: This accused has been arraigned on previous 2
occasions, has he not?
3 MS TAYLOR: He has but this matter has a very protracted
4 history and there will need to be a re-arraignment on 5 some
counts this morning.
6 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
7 MS TAYLOR: What I propose to do is to explain that history to
8 Your Honour.
9 HIS HONOUR: Thank you.
10 MS TAYLOR: The indictment in its present form was filed on 11
2 June 1995. On 29 August 1995, the prisoner was
12 arraigned and pleaded guilty to one count of insert data 13 into
a Commonwealth computer contrary to Paragraph 76C(a) 14 of the
Crimes Act.
15 HIS HONOUR: One count of? COPY
16 MS TAYLOR: Insert data into a commonwealth computer contrary
17 to Paragraph 76C(a), MEDIA which was Count 14. 18 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
19 MS TAYLOR: One count of obtain access to data relating to the
20 enforcement of the law of the Commonwealth, using the
21 facilities of a carrier contrary to Sub-Paragraph
22 76D(2)(b)(3) of the Crimes Act, which was Count 20;
23 three counts of insert data into a computer using the
24 facilities of a carrier contrary to Sub-Section 76E(a) of
25 the Crimes Act, which was Counts 4, 5 and 8; one count of
26 erase data from a computer using the facilities of a
27 carrier contrary to Sub-Section 76E(a) of the Crimes Act,
28 which was Count 9; one count of interrupt the use of a
29 computer using the facilities of a carrier contrary to
30 Sub-Section 76E(b), which was Count 11 and one count of
31 defraud a carrier contrary to Sub-section 85Z(f)(a) of
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 1 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 the Crimes Act, which was Count 29. The prisoner pleaded
2 not guilty to the remaining counts.
3 On 9 May 1996, the prisoner was re-arraigned and
4 pleaded guilty to one count of insert data into a
5 Commonwealth computer contrary to Paragraph 76C(a) of the
6 Crimes Act, Count 14; one count of obtain access to data
7 relating to the law of enforcement of the Commonwealth,
8 Count 20; seven counts of insert data into a computer
9 using the facilities of a carrier, which were
10 counts 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15 and 17; three counts of erase
11 data which were Counts 9, 23 and 24; four counts of alter
12 data on a computer which were Counts 25, 26, 27 and 28;
13 one count of interrupt the use of a computer, Count 11,
14 and one count of defraud, Count 29. The applicant
15 pleaded to the remaining counts.
16 On 9 May, an acquittal was entered by direction on
COPY17 counts 2, 3, 18 and 19. His Honour the Chief Judge of
18 the County Court on that date determined in relation to
19 the remaining counts, that questions of law arose suchMEDIA
20 that their determination could render the conduct of a
21 trial unnecessary, and these questions were reserved for
22 the consideration and determination of the full court.
23 The trial and plea were adjourned to a date to be fixed.
24 On 2 October of this year, the full court made no
25 order on the questions reserved on the case stated, and
26 remitted the matter back to this court. Subsequently,
27 the - - -
28 HIS HONOUR: Did they give reasons for that?
29 MS TAYLOR: They said that the matter was not properly the
30 subject of a case stated.
31 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 2 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: The prisoner still, at this stage, has a plea of 2
not guilty entered into Counts 1, 7, 12, 13, 21 and 22.
3 HIS HONOUR: Just repeat that.
4 MS TAYLOR: 1, 7, 12, 13, 21 and 22, and he will now need to be
5 re-arraigned on those counts.
6 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
7 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, for your assistance, I certainly - - -
8 HIS HONOUR: The pleas that have been made are to stand.
9 MS TAYLOR: That's correct.
10 HIS HONOUR: Those six counts to which you made reference, that
11 will clear the presentment, will it?
12 MS TAYLOR: That is right, and there are a number of counts on
13 which a directed acquittal has already been entered.
14 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
15 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, I have prepared a summary of the
16 indictment if that is of assistance to you.
17 HIS HONOUR: Yes. COPY
18 MS TAYLOR: I hand that up, and it is on the counts that are
19 currently entered as not guilty pleas that theMEDIA
20 arraignment will need to take place this morning.
21 HIS HONOUR: The accused will be re-arraigned on Count 1, Count
22 7, Count 12, Count 13, Count 21 and Count 22.
23
24 CHARGE: Offences contrary to s.76 and s.85 of the Commonwealth
25 Crimes Act (6 counts).
26 THE ACCUSED pleaded guilty.
27
28 HIS HONOUR: I have read the summary that has been provided,
29 that is, the agreed summary of facts. I note that there
30 were other men said to have been involved. Have they
31 been dealt with?
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 3 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: They have, Your Honour.
2 HIS HONOUR: Is there any reason why the same judge is not
3 dealing with those?
4 MS TAYLOR: In terms of the list, we were just put in this
5 court.
6 HIS HONOUR: There are many statements of principle in the
7 cases that suggest that offenders who have been dealt
8 with by a judge who are involved in similar activities
9 ought to be dealt with by the same judge.
10 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour. Those two offenders were
11 actually dealt with by different judges. The offender,
12 B, was sentenced - - -
13 HIS HONOUR: We are only compounding the problem. This seems
14 to be a network, does it not, and they were charged with
15 pretty much the same offences; is that so?
16 MS TAYLOR: It is so, but it is also not so. There are some
COPY17 differences between the matters alleged against - - -
18 HIS HONOUR: All the more reason why the same judge should deal
19 with it and sort out the different criminality.MEDIA
20 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, if it is of assistance, I do have
21 copies of the indictment and the sentencing remarks in
22 respect of both of those co-accused.
23 HIS HONOUR: What were the penalties imposed?
24 MS TAYLOR: In respect of B, who was sentenced on
25 21 July 1995 by His Honour Judge Lewis, the charges
26 alleged against him were one count of obtain access to 27
commercial information on the Commonwealth - - -
28 HIS HONOUR: I see the 76D offences carry a maximum penalty of 29
10 years; is that so?
30 MS TAYLOR: No, that is not so, Your Honour. They are two 31
years, two years maximum.
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 4 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 HIS HONOUR: It must be E then.
2 MS TAYLOR: It is E that carries the maximum.
3 HIS HONOUR: 76E is 10 years.
4 MS TAYLOR: That's correct.
5 HIS HONOUR: Section 10 applies, does it not?
6 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour.
7 HIS HONOUR: E is 10 years, D two and the - - -
8 MS TAYLOR: The defraud charge 85Z(f) carries a maximum penalty
9 of five years, Your Honour.
10 HIS HONOUR: Yes. Do you have a summary of the offences that
11 the other accused faced?
12 MS TAYLOR: Not to hand up to Your Honour. I can
13 certainly - - -
14 HIS HONOUR: Would you read that into the transcript if you can
15 do that?
16 MS TAYLOR: Yes. Your Honour, B pleaded guilty to one count of
COPY17 obtain access to commercial information on a Commonwealth
18 computer contrary to s.76B(2)(b)(8) of the Crimes Act,
19 one count of alter data in a Commonwealth computerMEDIA
20 contrary to s.76C(a), one count of erase data in a
21 Commonwealth computer contrary to s.76C(a), two counts of
22 insert data into a Commonwealth computer contrary to
23 s.76C(a), two counts of obtaining access to data relating
24 to the enforcement of law of the Commonwealth using the
25 facilities of a carrier contrary to s.76(d)(2)(b)(3),
26 four counts of erase data from a computer system using
27 the facilities of a carrier contrary to s.76E(a), seven
28 counts of insert data into a computer system using the
29 facilities of a carrier contrary to s.76E(a), four counts
30 of being knowingly concerned in Julian Paul Assange
31 obtaining access to data contrary to s.5, 76B(2)(b)(3),
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 5 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 76B(2)(b)(8) and 76D(2)(b)(8).
2 His Honour convicted B and, without passing
3 sentence, released him by cognisance in the sum of $500
4 to be of good behaviour for a period of three years in
5 respect of all 26 counts pursuant to s.21B of the Crimes
6 Act.
7 HIS HONOUR: Did the director take any steps in relation to
8 that sentence?
9 MS TAYLOR: No, Your Honour.
10 HIS HONOUR: He was happy with it?
11 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour. It certainly was not grounds to
12 say that the sentence was manifestly inadequate.
13 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
14 MS TAYLOR: B was also ordered to pay reparation in the sum of
15 $2100 in respect of damage COPY caused to the computer systems
16 at the Australian National University.
18 by His Honour Judge Kimm in respect of one count of
19 defraud of the Commonwealth contrary to s.29D, two countsMEDIA
20 of obtain access to data by means of a Commonwealth
21 facility contrary to s.76B(2(b)(5) and one count of
22 obtain access to data relating to the personal affairs of
23 any person using the facilities of a carrier contrary to
24 s.76D(2)(b)(5).
25 His Honour discharged C without conviction upon
26 recognisance in the sum of $500 to be of good behaviour
27 for a period of three years pursuant to s.19B of the
28 Crimes Act. In not convicting C, His Honour explicitly
29 recognised that he was the junior of the three offenders.
30 HIS HONOUR: Where does the Crown say this accused prisoner
31 sits amongst them?
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 6 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: The Crown submits that this accused was the most 2
serious of the - - -
3 HIS HONOUR: The ringleader?
4 MS TAYLOR: The ringleader, Your Honour, yes. I am corrected
5 by my learned friend and that is probably appropriate.
6 He was the most active hacker and, perhaps, he was the
7 most skilful hacker, as well, rather than the ringleader.
8 While the three certainly communicated with each other,
9 they also pursued their own hacking activities.
10 HIS HONOUR: Why does the Commonwealth propose penalties of up
11 to 10 years for this sort of offence? It seems to me
12 that this was a very determined and sustained onslaught
13 on the computers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of
14 Technology, and the Australian National University. What
15 did
16 Judge Lewis say about that?
COPY17 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, all three hackers involved in this
18 matter are what is described by computer literate people
19 as "look/see" hackers rather than malicious hackers.MEDIA
20 That is that notwithstanding that great amounts of damage
21 and inconvenience were caused to the systems,
22 administrators and the target systems, the information
23 retrieved was not used for personal gain or to sell or
24 for any other benefit. The motive behind the hacking was
25 simply an arrogance and a desire to show off computer
26 skill, and those factors were certainly taken into
27 account by Their Honours in sentencing the other two co-
28 accused.
29 HIS HONOUR: Do the same considerations apply here in your
30 view?
31 MS TAYLOR: Certainly, I would concede that the prisoner is a
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 7 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 look/see hacker, but I had intended to make some
2 submissions to you at the appropriate time as to penalty.
3 HIS HONOUR: Yes. We will hear what Mr Galbally has to say.
4 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, there is one final matter, if I can
5 just raise that.
6 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
7
8 MS TAYLOR: When I hand up the transcripts of the other
9 co-accused, you will notice in those transcripts that
10 there is a reference to a summary offence in respect of 11 both
of those defendants, and that summary offence was a 12 charge of
inciting the commission of offences against the 13 law of the
Commonwealth, particularly Part 6A of the
14 Crimes Act, by publishing in writing in a magazine called
16 HIS HONOUR: What was that? COPY
17 MS TAYLOR: "International MEDIA Subversive". 18 HIS HONOUR: "Subversive"?
19 MS TAYLOR: Yes. The prisoner was also charged with that
20 offence and the charge was adjourned sine die at the
21 committal because it is, in fact, a summary offence.
22 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
23 MS TAYLOR: "International Subversive" was a magazine compiled
24 by the prisoner and contributed to by B and C, and the
25 magazine provided information on how to hack and how to
26 phreak?
27 HIS HONOUR: How to?
28 MS TAYLOR: Phreak.
29 HIS HONOUR: P-h-r-e-a-k.
30 MS TAYLOR: That's correct. Phreaking is when you - - -
31 HIS HONOUR: Yes, I follow that.
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 8 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: The magazine had a stated distribution of three
2 persons only, being B, C and the prisoner.
3 The summary offence charged against both B and C
4 was dealt with by this court exercising summary
5 jurisdiction pursuant to s.359AA of the Victorian Crimes
6 Act. Since that time, my office has received advice that
7 sub-s.68(3) of the Judiciary Act prevents the exercise by
8 a Victorian superior court of summary jurisdiction with
9 respect to a federal offence.
10 Consequently, so that the matters may be finally
11 determined, the prisoner has consented to that matter
12 being taken into account on sentence pursuant to s.16BA
13 of the Crimes Act and - - -
14 HIS HONOUR: What is the difference?
15 MS TAYLOR: The difference - - -
16 HIS HONOUR: Being taken into account as distinct from dealt
COPY17 with as a summary offence.
18 MS TAYLOR: In practicalities, not very much, I would submit,
19 Your Honour, but in terms of the legality - - -MEDIA
20 HIS HONOUR: When I am to take it into account, that follows,
21 from what you have told me, that I am not able to punish
22 him for it but just to - - -
23 MS TAYLOR: That is correct.
24 HIS HONOUR: - - - do nothing about it.
25 MS TAYLOR: The section certainly says that the maximum penalty
26 for the offences of which he will be convicted will still
27 be the maximum penalty that the court could have imposed
28 if no other offence had been taken into account.
29 Section 16BA does allow a reparation order to be
30 made in relation to any offence that is taken into
31 account.
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 9 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 HIS HONOUR: Are you asking for any reparation order?
2 MS TAYLOR: I am not. The main reason that this is put in is
3 so that the matters can be finally determined.
4 HIS HONOUR: Clear it up?
5 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour, but I hand up that - - -
6 HIS HONOUR: I am to take the summary. What section under
7 which he is charged with the summary offence?
8 MS TAYLOR: Section 7AB.
9 HIS HONOUR: 7A?
10 MS TAYLOR: Sub-section B of the Crimes Act. It is the 11
incitement provision, Your Honour.
12 HIS HONOUR: I am to take it into account, but I have no power 13
to punish for it?
14 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour. I hand up the requisite form.
15 HIS HONOUR: That is sort of intellectual COPY gymnastics, isn't it?
16 MS TAYLOR: It is, Your Honour.
17 HIS HONOUR: Yes. MEDIA 18 MS TAYLOR: I hand up the form that it is necessary under that
20 HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Yes, Mr Galbally.
21 MR GALBALLY: Do you want me to address the issue of whether or
22 not you should be the sentencing judge?
23 HIS HONOUR: No, no, I will deal with it. It seems there has
24 been a pot-pourri. Two judges have had a crack at it,
25 why not a third one? He might do it properly.
26 MR GALBALLY: Your Honour, I will be making certain submissions
27 in regard to that, in regard to the way that my client is
28 placed within the context of the other offenders, but,
29 essentially, what has been said is that all the other
30 offenders - they have all acted independently, Your
31 Honour. It appears that what has occurred is that
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 10 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 throughout their activities they have come into contact
2 with each other, and it is an elite or a particular group
3 of people who have been involved in this type of activity
4 and through the telephone intercepts that you would have
5 perused, Your Honour, you would have seen that.
6 HIS HONOUR: I have not read the - all these papers came up
7 last night, 17 volumes. I have not read them.
8 MR GALBALLY: You would not have had an opportunity, but if I
9 may just precis what is contained in them.
10 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
11 MR GALBALLY: It is really there was an intercept that was
12 originally placed on B's telephone, where he is having
13 conversations with C, the other offender, and with Mr
14 Assange, the prisoner before you. Essentially, what
15 those communications demonstrate in my submission is that
16 there is neither one person who is the ringleader within
COPY17 this exercise; it is merely that - - -
18 HIS HONOUR: I follow that. Your opponent immediately accepted
19 your demurrer when I used that expression, and I followMEDIA
20 that, but didn't I read somewhere that, if I may say so,
21 your client seemed to be one jump ahead of everybody and
22 then, when they became aware that the telephone
23 intercepts were on, your client - that is the attribution
24 in the material - your client alerted the others and came
25 up with some sort of a solution to, as it were, keep one
26 jump ahead? Is that not correct?
27 MR GALBALLY: I think that throughout the material, you can see
28 that if one person gains information, they seem to spread
29 it about between themselves. My client may have become
30 aware that the jig was up, if I could use that
31 expression, or that there were people who were hot on
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 11 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 their trail through the intercepts - - -
2 HIS HONOUR: The difficulty there is, you see, at that stage,
3 you have got people who are hacking into these computers,
4 and I am bound to accept not for any personal gain just
5 for, if you like, the thrill of it, but when sensitive
6 individuals are confronted with the potential for
7 detection, on one view, they say, all right, well, the
8 jig's up, we'd better stop this. But what happens is the
9 enterprise goes on - that is as I understand it and you
10 can disabuse me of this - the enterprise goes on and they
11 try and find a way of keeping one jump ahead of the
12 authorities. That is the troublesome part of this. Am I
13 wrong about that?
14 MR GALBALLY: Not entirely, Your Honour. If I may address it
15 in this manner?
COPY16 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
17 MR GALBALLY: Throughout the course of the plea, I will be
18 addressing you on that very point. That is part and
19 parcel of what appears to be the hacker's activity in theMEDIA
20 sense that there becomes this cat and mouse play between
21 the person trying to investigate and the hacker himself.
22 HIS HONOUR: How much does that cost the community, all that
23 investigation and then the concern? I see one of the
24 things they had access to are the examination results or
25 potential examination results et cetera.
26 I think this is very troublesome behaviour, and I
27 must register some surprise at the disposition of Judge
28 Lewis. I am not, for one moment, criticising him; all I
29 am doing is registering surprise, and that is a very
30 powerful argument that you have on this plea.
31 MR GALBALLY: I will be adopting that argument in due course,
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 12 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 Your Honour, but I think I wish to place a little bit of 2 this
in context which, I hope, will assist you in
3 understanding the sentences that have been passed down in 4 the
past. For example, sir, Julian Assange was 20 years 5 of age when
this activity occurred.
6 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
7 MR GALBALLY: That is in 1991. He now comes before the court
8 as a 25 year old, sir, and there will be submissions made
9 on his rehabilitation and that he is now an entirely
10 different person in terms of social maturity and his
11 understanding of the offences that he has committed and,
12 in fact, what he has done for the community as part of
13 his rehabilitation, but, more than that, sir, if I can
14 just draw you to one part of the deposition material
15 which I think, in my submission, is significant, Mr
16 Assange - - -
COPY17 HIS HONOUR: Which part are we going to?
18 MR GALBALLY: I am going to take you to the record of interview
19 and I draw your attention to one page specifically, sir.MEDIA
20 HIS HONOUR: Which page?
21 MR GALBALLY: That is page - I hope it is - 353 of the record
22 of interview. It is almost at the end of it. It is the
23 second last page of his record of interview, sir.
24 He was interviewed on two occasions, once in
25 December 1991 and then, again, in February 1992.
26 HIS HONOUR: Interviewed twice when?
27 MR GALBALLY: He was interviewed in December 1991 and he was
28 interviewed again in February 1992.
29 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
30 MR GALBALLY: I want to pause there, Your Honour, and say this,
31 that in the first interview that he gave in December, you
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 13 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 will see that he has given an extremely candid account of
2 his activities. Every question that he is asked, he
3 gives an answer to. He explains exactly what he did to
4 the best of his ability and to the systems that he got
5 into. He is candid about his ability and is candid about
6 what purpose he was endeavouring to achieve, and I will
7 address that at a later stage during the course of the
8 plea, Your Honour, but in particular, at p.353, at p.37
9 of - - -
10 HIS HONOUR: Yes, I have got that.
11 MR GALBALLY: He says, "Well, I was led to believe that the
12 sooner the interview was done, the more evidence there
13 would be against me and, therefore, the less physical
14 evidence would be needed".
15 One can take from that, Your Honour, that Mr
16 Assange has gone back there on a second occasion,
COPY17 assisted the police with their enquiries with the18 endeavour to have this matter dealt with as soon as
19 possible.MEDIA
20 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
21 MR GALBALLY: Assisted them with all of their enquiries to the
22 best of his ability. There is no duck-shoving at all
23 with the questions, giving one candid answer and then
24 hiding behind, well, look, I'm not sure, I don't know.
25 It is a very candid interview.
26 He is not charged until 1994 in respect of this
27 offence.
28 HIS HONOUR: I can understand some difficulty formulating
29 charges in a case like this.
30 MR GALBALLY: Yes, of course, Your Honour. It is undoubtedly a
31 complex matter, and I must say that I have had
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 14 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 difficulties myself with dealing with the material.
2 However, my client has done everything in his power, at
3 that early stage, to expedite the proceedings.
4 He has not relied on his rights, which could not be
5 used against him in any event, but, by that statement, he
6 is, in a sense, saying, I've come down here with the
7 endeavour to answer all of your questions to assist you
8 and to have this matter cleared up as early as possible.
9 Then, for some three years - almost three years - he
10 awaits his charges.
11 Between that time, sir, and the time when these
12 offences occurred, he comes before you as an entirely
13 different person, sir. It is obvious that he is a highly
14 intelligent person when one looks through the material
15 and, in fact, all of the accused are intelligent people.
16 Yet, to use a colloquial expression, their intelligence
COPY17 outstretched their own maturity, and now his maturity as
18 a person has caught up with him and he has an insight
19 into his offending behaviour.MEDIA
20 That is a significant feature of this particular
21 matter. Although the charges may be complex, he has not
22 done anything to delay this proceeding. The case stated
23 went before the Full Court of the Supreme Court and,
24 under the Crimes Act, sir, that is nothing that can be
25 taken against - Mr Assange is still deemed to have
26 pleaded guilty at the earlier opportunity.
27 HIS HONOUR: Yes, in a case like this, the guilty plea has got
28 to be of great significance. The trial would have been a
29 nightmare, no doubt about that.
30 MR GALBALLY: He has saved the community enormous expense by
31 avoiding that trial and by pleading guilty today, and the
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 15 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 matters upon which that went before the full court were 2
technical questions of law.
3 HIS HONOUR: Yes, I follow that. I would not, for one minute, 4
suggest that made any inroads and I accept that that was 5 for the
purpose of clarification of the legal position.
6 MR GALBALLY: Yes, and the full court - I don't want to merely 7
reiterate what my friend has said, but the full court
8 effectively said, in refusing to hear the application,
9 that the Bench had - - -
10 HIS HONOUR: I wonder did the Bench have 17 volumes on it?
11 MR GALBALLY: They had a case stated that went before it and
12 agreed summary of facts.
13 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
14 MR GALBALLY: The court was essentially concerned that whether
15 or not those agreed statement COPY of facts would be the same
16 if Mr Assange was put under cross-examination, were they
17 finally determined MEDIA and settled in (indistinct), and
18 although the Crown urged the court to consider the
19 matter, they decided against it. But Mr Assange, then,
20 has pleaded guilty, accepted his fate, notwithstanding
21 that maybe there are some grey areas in respect of the
22 law, and that is to his credit that he doesn't wish this
23 matter to be delayed any further.
24 HIS HONOUR: Yes. I shall take those matters into account.
25 MR GALBALLY: During the course of the five years since the
26 commission of these offences, Mr Assange has matured into
27 a young adult who has taken on responsibilities of being
28 a sole parent. Sir, he has a young son who is aged 6,
29 almost 7, Daniel. Just prior to his arrest, his then
30 wife left the premises and had taken his young son with
31 her, who was then aged 20 months and, in late 1992, Your
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 16 DISCUSSION
1 Honour, Mr Assange has managed to receive sole custody of
2 his son.
3 HIS HONOUR: Was that by agreement or - - -
4 MR GALBALLY: No, that is by way of protracted Family Court
5 proceedings, sir.
6 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
7 MR GALBALLY: I am instructed by my client that those
8 proceedings are still continuing today, but it is obvious
9 that he has demonstrated a great deal of maturity and
10 responsibility in taking over the supervision and
11 livelihood - - -
12 HIS HONOUR: That is at Malmsbury Street, Hawthorn?
13 MR GALBALLY: That is correct, sir.
14 HIS HONOUR: What is that, a flat or a house or - - -
15 MR GALBALLY: No, that is a rented COPY house, sir.
16 HIS HONOUR: Yes. What is his employment?
17 MR GALBALLY: He is a receiver MEDIA of a sole parent pension, sir.
18 HIS HONOUR: He said he was a computer programmer by
20 MR GALBALLY: That is correct, sir, and I will be providing
21 some material to you. Since being charged in 1993, sir, 22 he has
set up a site(?) on the internet which enables
23 people - he has put programmes onto the internet site and 24 it
enables people to gain access to that material. In
25 that sense, he describes himself as a computer
26 programmer.
27 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
28 MR GALBALLY: He has managed to give back an awful lot to the
29 community in that respect and from the - at some stage, I
30 will tender to Your Honour that from his work on the site
31 and the material that he has put on the site, many users
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 17 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 throughout all over the world have used the material that 2 he
has provided to the internet.
3 HIS HONOUR: What is his particular programme?
4 MR GALBALLY: There are a variety of programmes. He has four
5 programmes that are on the site. There is one that is
6 described as, "Best of security", which has over 5000
7 subscribers to it. He produces bulletins in regard to
8 security and provides computer software in respect of
9 those things.
10 HIS HONOUR: Does he get paid for that?
11 MR GALBALLY: No, sir, he doesn't receive - well, from time to
12 time, he receives some small remittance in regard to the
13 work that he has produced on to it, but, essentially, all
14 of the material that you will see that is contained in
15 this folder, nobody pays for that user service. Mr
16 Assange is hopeful that at some stage in later life that,
COPY17 in addition to providing material onto the internet, that
18 at some stage he will end up receiving some sort of paid
19 remuneration for it, but he is clearly a person who wantsMEDIA
20 the internet to be able to provide material to people
21 that isn't paid for, and he freely gives his services to
22 that.
23 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
24 MR GALBALLY: Sir, if you just bear with me, I have a letter
25 here from the Alternative Technology Association
26 Incorporated wherein it - I am instructed that they are
27 aware of this matter that is before the court although
28 there is no specific mention of it, sir, but it
29 essentially describes the type of services that
30 MrÿAssange has provided to them. My friend has had an
31 opportunity of perusing that letter.
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 18 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 #EXHIBIT ¯1 - ¯Letter from Alternative Technology Association.
2 HIS HONOUR: Do you want me to read that now?
3 MR GALBALLY: It is not necessary to read it at this stage,
4 sir. The structure of the plea will be as follows, sir,
5 is that I wish to give some detailed background in regard
6 to MrÿAssange's formative years as a child.
7 Essentially, the thrust of the plea will be that
8 his mother will - - -
9 HIS HONOUR: Your strongest point is the attitude taken by the
10 other judges.
11 MR GALBALLY: That is correct, sir.
12 HIS HONOUR: Is there any reason in this case why the
13 principles of parity should not apply?
14 MR GALBALLY: In my submission, they should apply, sir, that he
15 comes before the court in COPY much the same manner, if not
16 identical, to what the other people came before the
18 HIS HONOUR: Have you considered MEDIA that, Ms Taylor?
19 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, I have considered that, and while Your
20 Honour would be bound by the principle of parity, it will
21 be my submission that the prisoner before you is the most
22 serious of the three offenders.
23 HIS HONOUR: But in terms of being the most serious, I take it
24 they were all first offenders?
25 MS TAYLOR: Yes.
26 HIS HONOUR: There has got to be, a, a belief on my part that
27 the punishment imposed was manifestly inadequate and two
28 judges of this court have decided that two participants
29 in this scheme, one obviously to a lesser extent than the
30 other - but when two judges of this court have decided
31 that non custodial dispositions are appropriate,
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 19 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 particularly in the case of a first offender, if the
2 director was enthusiastic about an alternate disposition,
3 I would have to be persuaded that there were very
4 significant differences, would I not?
5 MS TAYLOR: You would, Your Honour. My submission will be that
6 deterrence is the most weighty factor that Your Honour
7 will have to give.
8 HIS HONOUR: I follow that, but I cannot ignore the fact that
9 two judges of this court who are well appraised of the
10 need to incorporate that principle in appropriate cases
11 have taken the view that they have.
12 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour, my submission will be that the
13 principle of parity will not be offended by the
14 imposition of a custodial sentence but a suspended
15 custodial sentence.
16 HIS HONOUR: But that involves me stipulating that it requires
17 a gaol sentence. COPY
18 MS TAYLOR: Yes.
19 HIS HONOUR: I mean, the fact that the sentence isn't served isMEDIA
20 preceded by a declaration that the offence is punishable
21 by a gaol sentence; now, if in fact just at first glance
22 - if all of the offenders are hacking into the computer
23 and, I suppose, whilst you identify quite a number of
24 counts, it probably does not approach the usage that
25 these men had of their computers and the access that they
26 had to the various computers that they broke into if
27 that's the right terminology.
28 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour, that's correct.
29 HIS HONOUR: And if, in fact, the three of them are not doing
30 that for personal gain - was it your expression,
31 arrogance or was it Mr Galbally?
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 20 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: I think it was mine, Your Honour.
2 HIS HONOUR: Yes; if that is the motivator then my
3 understanding of the principle which is one I believe, at
4 times I am quite soured by some penalties that are
5 imposed but it is so deeply entrenched in our law, so
6 deeply entrenched and my feeling is that having read the
7 papers and just heard you and heard Mr Galbally, that
8 really the discrimination between the - certainly B and
9 this accused is inclined to be marginal.
10 MS TAYLOR: In my submission, Your Honour, that is not so. The
11 computer skills of the prisoner were far in excess of
12 those of B.
13 HIS HONOUR: All right; then you maintain it. I will hear you
14 on that later on. I just thought I might be able to
15 shorten these proceedings.
16 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, I will say this, the Crown does
COPY17 acknowledge that it comes before this court with two
18 other co-accused and will be bound by parity.
19 HIS HONOUR: I don't want you to be deterred but also if inMEDIA
20 fact you're tinkering at the edges as it were and trying
21 to create a significant difference when none exists
22 because I would have thought that if Judge Lewis in
23 particular was impressed by the fact that the access to
24 the computer was not for personal gain, it was for the -
25 dare I say it - the thrill, the arrogance; if Judge Lewis
26 was impressed by that and I want to read his sentencing
27 remarks before I finally sentence this accused - but I
28 just get a ,whiff if I may say so, that you will be
29 struggling to come up in the case of first offenders with
30 ingredients in this case which so significantly
31 distinguish it to enable me to say that one of the Judges
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 21 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 of this court really has imposed a manifestly inadequate
2 sentence particularly if the Director did not complain
3 about it.
4 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour; one of the problems with this
5 part of the law is that these offences, of course, are
6 quite new offences.
7 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
8 MS TAYLOR: There is only one other set of hackers that have
9 come before this court and that too were three co-accused
10 and in respect of those three co-accused, suspended
11 custodial sentences were imposed and they were look/see
12 hackers as well.
13 HIS HONOUR: Yes, but I think when you've got what seems to be
14 members of a network, to look at another similar set of
15 facts, really may not be helpful and I quite often say
16 that when counsel proffer cases at me and say, "Well,
COPY17 now, in such and such a case so and so was the penalty
18 therefore you ought to be guided." I draw back from that
19 because each case, each case has its own particular factsMEDIA
20 and own particular offenders as it were but that
21 particular principle is at all times subservient to the
22 principle of parity.
23 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour; the difference if I may just
24 summarise, in my submission, between the prisoner and the
25 other two hackers - - -
26 HIS HONOUR: Do you mind this occurring, Mr Galbally, or would
27 you prefer to - - -
28 MR GALBALLY: No, not at all, Your Honour; she may proceed.
29 MS TAYLOR: Thank you; the counts that relate to Northern
30 Telecom which are counts seven to 11 on the indictment 31
related to the hacking of - - -
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 22 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 HIS HONOUR: Was B charged with those?
2 MS TAYLOR: No, not at all. The prisoner is the only one who
3 is charged with those offences and they were quite
4 superior computer skills to get into the systems. Nortel
5 was a Canadian telecommunications - - -
6 HIS HONOUR: Let me have a look at the summary in relation to
7 that, counts 7 to 11; call one, between 1 July `91 and
8 29 October `91?
9 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour. The number of computers affected
10 by that piece of hacking was substantial. The computer
11 network belonging to Northern Telecom had about 11,000
12 computers attached to it and the prisoner obtained over
13 1,000 password files - - -
14 HIS HONOUR: This is by this technique he used of throwing
15 millions of numbers around until he hit on one?
16 MS TAYLOR: That's correct, Your Honour, he actually wrote a
COPY17 programme to do that and on a number of those computers
18 he had - in over 100 of the computers, he had root access
19 to those computers which meant that he didn't need anyMEDIA
20 further password, he had the key to the door if you like,
21 he could have gone anywhere that he liked and he was in
22 those systems for quite some months before the Systems
23 Administrators detected his presence.
24 HIS HONOUR: Can you answer this question; how when the
25 computer system is working and people that are lawfully
26 accessing it are doing so what's the stimulus to - or
27 what is the indication one gets that there is some
28 unauthorised entrant into the computer? Can you answer
29 that question?
30 MS TAYLOR: My understanding of that is that there is a person
31 called the System Administrator who has responsibility
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 23 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 for looking after the system. The hacking done by the
2 prisoner didn't disrupt the computer to the extent that
3 people couldn't use it.
4 HIS HONOUR: Yes, I understand that but - and that's my
5 question; if it's rolling along merrily and everyone is
6 using and getting the information that they want, how
7 does anyone know - - -
8 MS TAYLOR: There are auditing procedures which I don't know
9 the technicalities of, Your Honour, that can discover
10 these intrusions.
11 HIS HONOUR: Yes. Well, the information is going to an
12 authorised telephone number or something of that sort?
13 MS TAYLOR: I don't know the specifics but - - -
14 HIS HONOUR: Or an unauthorised computer.
15 MS TAYLOR: Yes, it would be something along those lines, Your
16 Honour, and when the Systems Administrator - - -
COPY17 HIS HONOUR: Perhaps we should ask the accused?
18 MS TAYLOR: Perhaps we should, Your Honour. When the Systems
19 Administrator found the presence of an intruder on theMEDIA
20 core Wang system, the prisoner was able to monitor the
21 affect of them trying to catch him and count 11 relates
22 to this; when one of them got very close to catching him
23 the prisoner was able to cause the computer system to
24 exclude that System Administrator from the core Wang and
25 he therefore interrupted that lawful use of the computer.
26 Your Honour, that in summary is - - -
27 HIS HONOUR: That you say is the difference?
28 MS TAYLOR: Is the difference; the extent and the time and the
29 skill required in relation to those counts differentiate
30 the prisoner from the offender, B.
31 HIS HONOUR: And that's the only discrimination?
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 24 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: The rest of the counts are very similar, Your
2 Honour.
3 HIS HONOUR: I don't think that's enough. I mean, you've
4 brought it to my attention but I don't think that's
5 enough. It seems just a variation. I suppose our
6 Canadian friends would be concerned about that occurring
7 but generally I suspect Judge Lewis was impressed by A,
8 the background of the prisoner, the acceptance of the
9 fact that this entry into the computers was from the
10 criminality point of view, absolutely mischievous and
11 probably, probably done by someone without the awareness
12 that they were facing 10 years less 33 per cent for the
13 discount under s.10.
14 Could you read me the sentencing remarks made by
15 Judge Lewis, the significant sentencing remarks that
16 Judge Lewis made. I want to read them but I would like
COPY17 you to read them into the transcript, please, Ms Taylor.
18 MS TAYLOR: His Honour said, "Upon the material produced to me
19 on this plea and upon the depositional material which isMEDIA
20 contained in the number of volumes presented to the court
21 and upon reading the summaries and listening to counsel
22 for the prosecution and for the accused, it is my view
23 that a conviction should be recorded but I think it is
24 appropriate in this case for the reasons indicated during
25 the course of argument that B be released upon his
26 undertaking that he will be of good behaviour for a
27 period of three years and that he will make reparation in
28 that he will pay to the Australian National University
29 the sum of $2,100."
30 Your Honour, the transcript of the argument
31 wasn't transcribed. There are more sentencing remarks in
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 25 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 respect of C from His Honour Judge Kimm.
2 HIS HONOUR: C is in - you say he's at the bottom of the tree.
3 MS TAYLOR: He is very much at the bottom and His Honour
4 explicitly recognised that. Would that be off assistance
5 if I read those, Your Honour?
6 HIS HONOUR: I would be grateful if you could pass them on to
7 me. I will read them in due course. I want to think
8 about this.
9 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, I may have mislead you before; you
10 referred to s.10. I should make it clear that with the
11 Federal offences s.10 of the Sentencing Act does not
12 apply.
13 HIS HONOUR: Yes, it doesn't apply but I have still got to
14 heed, is it s.19 that says where a remission on sentence
15 are not available in a State court that the practice of
16 acknowledging the abolition of those remissions has got
17 to be followed. COPY
18 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour, I just wanted to clear that up in
19 case I had, in fact, misled you.MEDIA
20 HIS HONOUR: Thank you; I'm sorry, it's not strictly s.10 but I
21 have got to give a s.10 discount in the Commonwealth
22 terms.
23 MS TAYLOR: Yes, Your Honour.
24 HIS HONOUR: Mr Galbally, you have heard what I have said; I
25 think you should get the personal background material on
26 the file but the path has been made a little easier for
27 you. I do believe that there should be seen to be
28 consistency of punishment in this court so far as is
29 possible and that's a pretty elusive commodity but when
30 Judges are dealing with similar fact circumstances there
31 has to be very good reason for a departure and I do not
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 26 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 think the points that were raised by Ms Taylor in the
2 context of this case are such that would cause me to
3 depart from the disposition made by Judge Lewis.
4 MR GALBALLY: Your Honour, I'm grateful for that indication;
5 however if I may just say this - - -
6 HIS HONOUR: Sometimes the counsel, it's like Daniel going back
7 into the Lion's den to get his coat.
8 MR GALBALLY: I'm thankful for that indication too, Your
9 Honour, but if I can just make this remark. In addition
10 to
11 Mr Assange's background material that I want to put
12 before the court,
13 DELETED BY COURT ORDER 14 Jan 2011
14 DELETED BY COURT ORDER 14 Jan 2011
15 DELETED BY COURT ORDER 14 Jan 2011 COPY
16 DELETED BY COURT ORDER 14 Jan 2011
17 DELETED BY COURT ORDER MEDIA 14 Jan 2011 18 DELETED BY COURT ORDER 14 Jan 2011
19 DELETED BY COURT ORDER 14 Jan 2011
20 HIS HONOUR: You cannot get a better result than what I have
21 proposed, can you?
22 MR GALBALLY: Your Honour, I can try for a non-conviction bond?
23 HIS HONOUR: No, you're wasting your time. I think offences of
24 this kind ought to be a mark on his record, the
25 disposition of the court I think is - I must say that if
26 I had first go at this, I would have been closer to
27 Ms Taylor's submission. I would have thought with the
28 extensive intervention that is disclosed and I've only
29 read the summary of the facts but I take it that's a
30 pretty good appraisal of what occurred, in my view, the
31 intrusion into these computers was quite extensive, it
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 27 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 carried with it the potential to cause particular harm, I
2 thought, and in particular to access such things as
3 potential examination questions and results at the RMIT
4 and I don't know - and we probably never will know what
5 the prisoner laid his eyes upon which reposes in these
6 computers but the Commonwealth accepts that it was not
7 used for malevolent purposes, the Commonwealth accepts
8 that there is just no evidence that there was anything
9 other than sort of intelligent inquisitiveness and the
10 pleasure of being able to - what's the expression - surf
11 through these various computers but I am bound to say
12 that I would have thought, before I heard the disposition
13 of Judge Lewis, that I might have had a different view
14 but I believe the principle of parity is so entrenched in
15 our law that I am bound to follow it and I will.
16 MR GALBALLY: Yes, Your Honour. Once again, I'm grateful for
17 the indication. COPY
18 HIS HONOUR: I think you should put the - just by way of
19 record - you should put the prisoner's backgroundMEDIA
20 material, family and the like, on the record so that
21 it - I am appraised of it and that it is there for -
22 well, I repeat for the record.
23 MR GALBALLY: If I may begin by saying this, Your Honour, his
24 mother, Christine Assange, she is currently in court
25 today and if required she is able to give evidence. A
26 little bit of Mr Assange's background really stems back
27 to his mother and it is relevant in this sense, sir, that
28 he has affectively, from a young child and throughout his
29 entire life, they have moved from town to town, from
30 State to State, and I will go through the reasons why
31 and, in effect, Mrs Assange is unable to give a coherent
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 28 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 chronology of all the cities and times and places that
2 she has resided in but she is able to testify that she is
3 of the view that Julian Assange, the prisoner before you,
4 has attended at least 12 different schools during his
5 lifetime.
6 I will endeavour to outline that to you now, sir.
7 HIS HONOUR: He obviously has mastered the world of computers.
8 Does he have any formal educational qualifications?
9 MR GALBALLY: He has no formal education qualities at all. In
10 reality, sir, what has happened is that as a young boy
11 travelling from State to State and school to school and
12 from country town to country town his mother purchased a
13 computer for him at the age of approximately 13 or 14.
14 That computer, in effect, became his only friend and his
15 only interaction with the outside world. He is a highly
16 intelligent young man and one can imagine the
COPY17 difficulties that any child has moving to one or two
18 schools during their lifetime. Most times, parents are
19 most concerned about how the child will adjust becauseMEDIA
20 children form cliches and they have their own social
21 groups but
22 Mr Assange literally went from school to another,
23 sometimes spending four months in one school, sometimes
24 spending six months at another school.
25 He was ostracised from time to time; when he would
26 reach a new community he would be ostracised, he would be
27 - I suppose the colloquial expression is to be picked on,
28 he would be bullied and his only real saviour in life or
29 his own bed rock in life was this computer. His mother,
30 in fact, encouraged him to use the computer and at some
31 stage she realised that it had become an addictive
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 29 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 instrument to him at a very early age.
2 HIS HONOUR: Were both parents together?
3 MR GALBALLY: No, sir; his background is quite tragic in many
4 ways. His mother is a very intelligent young lady who
5 ran away effectively from home when she was 17 years of
6 age and moved to Sydney. She came from an academic
7 background and fell pregnant in her early 20s and had
8 Julian. The biological father of Julian, Mr John
9 Shipton, he never took up resident or if he did only took
10 up residence for a very short time.
11 HIS HONOUR: Has he had contact with the prisoner?
12 MR GALBALLY: No, he has had no contact with the prisoner. The
13 prisoner was born in Queensland, in Townsville. Shortly
14 after that event Mrs Assange entered into a relationship
15 and married a Mr Brett Assange. That relationship
16 finished when Julian was approximately aged seven. He
COPY17 had, I'm instructed and told by his mother, that Julian
18 had a very close relationship with his step-father. His
19 step-father was an actor and a theatre director.MEDIA
20 He, unfortunately, was plagued with difficulties
21 with alcohol and it was on that basis that Mrs Assange
22 ended that relationship. Almost immediately after the
23 relationship ceased Mrs Assange entered into a new
24 relationship with a gentleman by the name of Kevin
25 Hamilton. Before moving onto there, sir, if I can
26 say - - -
27 HIS HONOUR: How old was Julian?
28 MR GALBALLY: Julian was approximately the age of seven at that
29 stage, round about seven, eight. Up until about the age
30 of six Julian had resided at Magnetic Island, had been in
31 Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide, then subsequently when
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 30 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 Mrs Assange entered into this third relationship, which
2 soon soured, she had great difficulties in terminating
3 that relationship and she was forced to flee from state
4 to state. She travelled down to Melbourne at one stage,
5 the gentleman attempted to, Kevin Hamilton attempted to
6 contact her, he had been physically violent towards her
7 in the past. He had ransacked their previous premises,
8 she fled to Adelaide for a short period of time, for a
9 period of six months, and then she fled across to Perth
10 for a period of time and then when Julian was about 14 or
11 15 she came back to Melbourne where she resided in about
12 four different premises as she has been in refuges.
13 HIS HONOUR: How long did Hamilton pursue her?
14 MR GALBALLY: Hamilton pursued her for a number of years.
15 HIS HONOUR: Is that terminated now?
16 MR GALBALLY: It is successfully terminated now but Julian was
COPY17 forced to - not forced, I withdraw that, Your Honour, but
18 Julian had given evidence in Family Court proceedings in
19 regard to Hamilton because there was a custody battleMEDIA
20 between his mother and Mr Hamilton regarding their son,
21 Julian's step-son(sic) Jamie.
22 HIS HONOUR: How old is he?
23 MR GALBALLY: Jamie is now I think 15 years of age; he had
24 enormous difficulties and not placing any sins at all
25 upon Mrs Assange but he has really lived a transient
26 lifestyle, domestically moving from one city to another
27 city until the age of about 15 when he comes to Melbourne
28 and in that time, sir, he attended three different -
29 we're able to calculate that he had probably attended
30 three or four different schools during that time. He
31 eventually attempted to do his HSC by way of
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 31 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 correspondence and he was unsuccessful in completing
2 that.
3 At an early age, sir, at 17 he met his then wife,
4 Christine, and they moved into residence together. He
5 met Christine through a gifted child programme. He had
6 been assessed out at Melbourne University notwithstanding
7 the fact that he had probably never spent longer than a
8 year in one classroom on a consecutive basis, he was
9 assessed as being a gifted child himself and he met her
10 through that programme and they moved into residence
11 together and he attempted to do his HSC by way of
12 correspondence, he was unsuccessful in endeavouring to do
13 that and then at a later stage at the time when these
14 offences were committed, he was doing a course at a TAFE
15 college in computer science and physics and he has not
16 completed that.
COPY17 HIS HONOUR: Has he been in any employment?18 MR GALBALLY: No, sir, not from my instructions. He has had
19 no - - -MEDIA
20 HIS HONOUR: How old is he now, 29?
21 MR GALBALLY: Well, there's an explanation for that, Your
22 Honour; I beg your pardon. He has not been in any
23 permanent employment because at the time when these
24 offences occurred he had a young child Daniel, 20 months.
25 Since getting sole custody of the child he has spent all
26 of his time endeavouring to give the child the very thing
27 that he never had and that was stability and in a sense
28 his mother is able to give evidence that Mr Assange
29 notwithstanding the intelligence and the career paths or
30 academic paths that he could probably choose through
31 university, he has put his studies on hold and he has
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 32 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 really solely concentrated on young Daniel.
2 HIS HONOUR: What sort of a computer has he got at home?
3 MR GALBALLY: I know what computer he had - I think he now just
4 has - if you'd just excuse me one moment?
5 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
6 MR GALBALLY: I'm advised, Your Honour, that it's only just a
7 simple basic computer. The computers that were used in
8 the commission of these offences were really just old
9 fashioned small computers and one of the motives for
10 these offences was that by leading onto these major
11 computer sites, it gave you the power and enabled you to
12 move from one site to another.
13 HIS HONOUR: I think I've heard enough about the background. I
14 find myself in a position, mainly because of the previous
15 dispositions, I'm in a position to sentence your client
16 now.
COPY17 MR GALBALLY: Do you wish me to tender these reports about his
18 son, Your Honour.
19 HIS HONOUR: I have no reason not to accept what you've saidMEDIA
20 about that.
21 MR GALBALLY: If it please Your Honour.
22 MS TAYLOR: Your Honour, just one matter; I will hand up to you
23 now the transcript of the co-accused and there is a
24 matter of a reparation order. The reparation order that
25 was made against B was for $2,100 in respect of damage
26 done to the ANU. That damage was done by both B and - -
27 -
28 HIS HONOUR: Two thousand - - -
29 MS TAYLOR: One hundred dollars.
30 HIS HONOUR: Do you oppose that order, Mr Galbally?
31 MR GALBALLY: No, Your Honour.
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 33 DISCUSSIONAssange
1 MS TAYLOR: I would seek that order, Your Honour?
2 HIS HONOUR: Just bear with me while I read what Judge Kimm had
3 to say.
4 (SENTENCE FOLLOWS)
MEDIA
COPY
.HS:BS 5/12/96 T13650A 34 DISCUSSIONAssange