WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden on April 10 said he was considering an Australian request to drop the prosecution of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, who released troves of confidential classified US documents.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February backed a motion in parliament’s lower house calling for the return of Assange, 52, to Australia.
US officials are looking to extradite Assange from Britain to the US, where he is wanted on criminal charges.
“We are considering it,” Mr Biden said to a question from a reporter who asked if he had a response to Australia’s request to end Assange’s prosecution.
Mr Albanese said his government had raised the issue at all government levels in every possible way and would continue to engage diplomatically for the release of Assange.
“This is an encouraging comment from President Biden,” he told ABC television. “I believe this must be brought to a conclusion and that Mr Assange has already paid a significant price, and enough is enough.
“There’s nothing to be gained by Mr Assange’s continued incarceration, in my very strong view. And I’ve put that as the view of the Australian government.”
Mr Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Assange, said Mr Biden’s comments were encouraging. Three weeks earlier, he had said Assange’s legal team saw no indication of a resolution to US charges against their client.
“It is encouraging that President Biden has confirmed that the United States is considering dropping its case against Julian Assange,” Mr Pollack said in an e-mail.
The US Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Biden’s remarks on April 10.
In a post on the X social media network directed at Mr Biden and citing his comment, Assange’s wife said: “Do the right thing. Drop the charges.”
Assange‘s extradition was put on hold in March after London’s High Court said the US must provide assurances he would not face the death penalty.
Assange, 52, is battling extradition from Britain to the US, where he is wanted on criminal charges over the release of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables in 2010. Washington says the release of the documents put lives in danger.
His supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing, including in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If extradited, he faces a sentence of up to 175 years in a maximum security prison. Multiple rights groups, leading media organisations and the leaders of countries including Mexico and Brazil have also urged that charges against Assange be dropped.
After Britain gave the go-ahead for his extradition last year, Assange’s lawyers in February launched a final attempt in the English courts to challenge that decision. REUTERS
