America rules, OK?

I believe that the USA like any other sovereign nation, has the right to make laws that govern the behaviour of people in its territory, including both its citizens & visitors. It is open to the USA, like any other sovereign nation, to make laws governing the behaviour of its citizens, even when they are outside its territory. But what I don’t understand or accept is that the USA, or any other sovereign nation, has the right to charge the citizen of another sovereign nation with a breach of its laws when they weren’t even in its territory when they allegedly committed the offence. Our Prime Minister says that Julian Assange will be afforded consular assistance but won’t be afforded any “special assistance” (Canberra Times 12 April). In those circumstances, if the USA is successful in its attempt to extradite Julian Assange to face a court in the USA, then surely anyone anywhere could face the same fate. The appalling reaction of our PM surely calls into question the ultimate value of our citizenship in the face of any abuse of power perpetrated by the USA while the so-called “rules-based international order” should be immediately renamed the “American rules-based international order”. – John Richardson, Wallagoot NSW