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Associated Press

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long US push to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.
For years, Australia has called on the US to drop its prosecution against Assange, an Australian citizen who has fought US extradition efforts from prison in the UK.
Asked about the request on Wednesday, as he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for an official visit, Biden said: “We’re considering it”.
Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of a trove of classified US documents almost 15 years ago.


American prosecutors allege that Assange, 52, encouraged and helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published, putting lives at risk.
Australia argues there is a disconnect between the US treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-US President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
Russia calls UK courts ‘a farce’ over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange case
Assange’s supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest.
Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, has said the WikiLeaks founder “is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives”. She has said his health continues to deteriorate in prison and she fears he’ll die behind bars.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Biden’s comment on Assange was encouraging.
“I have said that we have raised, on behalf of Mr Assange, Australia’s national interests that enough is enough and this needs to be brought to a conclusion and we’ve raised it at each level of government in every possible way,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “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,” he added.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, responding to Biden’s comments, said in a statement that “it is not too late for President Biden to stop Julian’s extradition to the US, which was a politically motivated act by his predecessor”.
“By dropping the charges against Julian he will be protecting freedom of expression and the rights of journalists and publishers globally,” she said. “We urge him to end this legal process; to free Julian; and to recognise that journalism is not a crime.”
A British court ruled last month that Assange can’t be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless US authorities guarantee he won’t get the death penalty.


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United States

Joe Biden says considering Australia’s request to drop prosecution of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange

Julian Assange supporters protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in March. Photo: EPA-EFE

Albanese makes firmest call yet for Julian Assange’s freedom, as case marks ‘rare crack’ in Australia-US ties

A giant hoarding in Melbourne calling for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on September 5, 2023. Photo: AFP 

Julian Assange’s supporters demonstrate at Hyde Park in Sydney on May 24, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak arrive at a press conference about the Aukus alliance on March 13, 2023. Photo: AP 

A pedestrian walks past a house with a sign in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Sydney, on June 20, 2022. Photo: AP  

Russia calls UK courts a ‘farce’ over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradition case

A supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange holds a placard outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wear face masks in front of the Monument to Dante in Naples, Italy on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Stella Assange, wife of Julian Assange, talks to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Supporters of Julian Assange protest in front of the British consulate in Milan, Italy on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange ‘will die’ if extradited to US, Australian journalist John Pilger says

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appealed against the British’s government decision last month to order his extradition to the U.S. The appeal was filed on July 1 at the High Court. Photo: AP

Australian journalist John Pilger said that defeat for Julian Assange in his battle in British courts against extradition could have far-reaching consequences for journalism. Photo: Getty Images

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been held at the HMP Belmarsh prison in southeast London since 2019. Photo: AFP

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Albanese is a signatory of the ‘Bring Julian Assange Home’ campaign. Photo: AP

A pedestrian walks past a house in Sydney with a sign in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. File photo: AP

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Australian Julian Assange has been held in Britain since 2019 while fighting extradition to the United States
He has been indicted by the US over his role in the 2010 leaking of a huge trove of classified documents


The WikiLeaks founder 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.
