Scott Morrison says he has pressed Donald Trump for help to prevent the release of an Afghan man who was convicted of murdering three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. The prime minister said the Australian government would continue to push “as hard as we can” for the continued detention of the former Afghan soldier known as Hekmatullah, after reports he could be released as a result of peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Hekmatullah was convicted of murdering three Australian soldiers – Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Private Robert Poate and Sapper James Martin – as they played cards at a patrol base north of Tarin Kowt in August 2012. Australian defence officials contacted the families of the three Australians late last week to inform them Hekmatullah was likely to be one the 5,000 prisoners set to be released after prisoner swap negotiations, the ABC reported. Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Monday that he had raised the issue directly with the US president. He said the defence minister, Linda Reynolds, and the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, had also raised the issue with their American counterparts at the Ausmin talks in Washington late last month.“This has been a matter of very regular and persistent petitioning on our behalf,” the prime minister said.“It is a matter that I’ve written to the president about. It is a matter of keen interest to Australia and we’ve reminded them of that.”Morrison said Hekmatullah was “responsible for murdering three Australians and our position is that he should never be released”. Morrison argued such a release would not contribute to regional peace.“That is the position that we will continue to maintain and we’ll maintain it strongly,” he said.“I can’t promise you the outcome we all want here, but it is certainly the outcome we will continue to press for as hard as we can.”
All data is taken from the source: https://www.theguardian.com/
Article Link:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/10/scott-morrison-presses-trump-for-continued-detention-of-ex-afghan-soldier-who-killed-three-australians
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