Joe Biden “Contemplating” Dropping Costs On WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

If convicted, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange faces jail phrases of as much as 175 years.

Washington:

US President Joe Biden stated Wednesday he was “contemplating” a request by Australia to drop the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage expenses.

Australia’s parliament handed a movement in February with the prime minister’s help calling for an finish to the authorized saga surrounding Assange, who has been held in Britain since 2019 whereas preventing extradition to the US.

“We’re contemplating it,” Biden replied on the White Home when requested by a reporter if he had a response to Australia’s request.

Biden, who took the query whereas strolling with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to a gathering within the Oval Workplace, didn’t elaborate.

Australian citizen Assange, 52, has been indicted by the US authorities over his position within the 2010 leaking of an enormous trove of categorized paperwork associated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If convicted, he faces jail phrases of as much as 175 years.

In response to Biden’s feedback, Assange’s spouse Stella stated on social platform X: “Do the best factor. Drop the costs.”

She has beforehand stated Assange’s bodily and psychological well being are in decline in jail and that her husband “will die” if despatched to the US.

Assange and his supporters say he uncovered US army wrongdoing and see his case as a combat for media freedom. Washington says his leaks put lives in danger by publishing paperwork that included the names of intelligence sources.

– ‘So brutal’ –

Assange is at present ready to be taught if he could make a last-ditch attraction in opposition to extradition, after a British court docket final month delayed a choice on his case. It’s now anticipated Could 20.

In late March, the Excessive Court docket in London gave the US three weeks to supply additional “assurances” on his therapy if he’s despatched there to face expenses.

WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson on Wednesday referred to as for “a political answer” to Assange’s plight, as supporters rallied in central London on the eve of the fifth anniversary of his arrest.

“This can be a case that simply ought to by no means have been began within the first place,” Hrafnsson informed AFP on the rally.

He stated Assange’s time within the high-security Belmarsh Jail in southeast London was “so extreme and so brutal.”

Hrafnsson stated Canberra ought to hyperlink the case to its landmark AUKUS safety pact with Washington and London to safe Assange’s launch.

“They need to be daring and say we have now nothing to debate except you drop the costs in opposition to Julian Assange so he can stroll free and are available again to Australia,” he stated.

Earlier than going to jail, Assange spent seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy to keep away from extradition to Sweden, the place he confronted accusations of sexual assault which have been later dropped.

Different protests supporting Assange are anticipated all over the world Thursday.

Marketing campaign teams together with Amnesty Worldwide and Reporters With out Borders have referred to as for his launch and denounced the prosecution beneath the 1917 US Espionage Act, which has by no means been used over the publishing of categorized data.

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