WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he is considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long U.S. push to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.
For years, Australia has to drop its prosecution against Assange, an Australian citizen who has fought U.S. extradition efforts from prison in the U.K. Asked about the request on Wednesday, as he for an official visit, Biden said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e considering it.鈥
Assange has been indicted on 17 and one charge of computer misuse over his website鈥檚 publication of a trove of classified U.S. documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange, 52, encouraged and helped U.S. 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 U.S. treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning鈥檚 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
Assange鈥檚 supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest. Assange鈥檚 wife, Stella Assange, has said the WikiLeaks founder 鈥渋s being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives.鈥 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鈥檚 comment on Assange was encouraging.
鈥淚 have said that we have raised, on behalf of Mr. Assange, Australia鈥檚 national interests that enough is enough and this needs to be brought to a conclusion and we鈥檝e raised it at each level of government in every possible way,鈥 Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. 鈥淢r. Assange has already paid a significant price and enough is enough. There鈥檚 nothing to be gained by Mr. Assange鈥檚 continued incarceration in my very strong view and I鈥檝e put that as the view of the Australian government,鈥 he added.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, responding to Biden's comments, said in a statement that 鈥渋t is not too late for President Biden to stop Julian鈥檚 extradition to the U.S., which was a politically motivated act by his predecessor.鈥
鈥淏y dropping the charges against Julian he will be protecting freedom of expression and the rights of journalists and publishers globally,鈥 she said. "We urge him to end this legal process; to free Julian; and to recognize that journalism is not a crime.鈥
A British court ruled last month that Assange to the United States on espionage charges unless U.S. authorities guarantee he won鈥檛 get the death penalty.
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AP writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report from London.
