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His son’s wife, Stella Assange, later said on social media in response: “My father-in-law John Shipton does not speak for my husband.”

“As anyone who has followed Julian already knows, Julian believes in extreme scepticism when it comes to all states with large intelligence sectors, who have committed war crimes, engaged in censorship, or sought to imprison or assassinate journalists.”

Shipton, 80, said he was elated to finally be able to hug his son this year after Assange’s release from five years in a high-security British prison after a plea deal with the US Justice Department. Assange pleaded guilty and was convicted of obtaining and publishing military secrets, including details of US wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said his son was in good health now and was “repairing himself”, with his children “teaching him how to be a parent”.

Shipton, who describes himself as an anti-war activist, has been accused of being an apologist for the Putin regime. He attended a pro-Russian rally after the invasion of Ukraine, but said he was only there to speak about his son.

He also faced heavy criticism in 2013 when he led a WikiLeaks Party delegation to Syria to meet dictator Bashar al-Assad, and to hold talks with a number of high-ranking Syrian officials.

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Assange has also been accused of colluding with Russia, where public opinion of him soured after the 2016 US election, when WikiLeaks published a trove of emails related to Hillary Clinton. US intelligence officials later said the emails were passed along to Assange by Russian military intelligence operatives. Whether Assange knowingly conspired with Russian intelligence remains an open question.

Shipton said he agreed with the assessment of former US independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who criticised the plea deal Assange had to take. Kennedy branded it a “big blow to freedom of the press”.

“The US, in its pursuit of those that it does not like, is clearly quite ruthless and vindictive,” Shipton said.

“I imagine if not for the intercession of the Australian government, the Australian people and the Australian parliament, if not for that intercession [which made the plea deal possible], Julian would not have survived.”

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In a separate interview with Russian television network RT, Shipton said he hoped to “offer the hand of friendship between myself and the Russian people” during his visit.

“It is only through peace between the West and Russia … that the world can live in some sort of harmony without the constant fear of destruction by atomic weapons,” he said.