WASHINGTON: TheUS President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was considering a request by Australia to drop the espionage case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Australia’s parliament in February passed a motion with the support of the prime minister calling for an end to the case against Assange, who has been detained in Britain since 2019 while fighting United States extradition.
When a reporter at a White House asked Biden about Australia’s request, he replied, “We’re considering it.”
Biden, took the question while on a walk with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before a meeting in the Oval Office.
Australian national, Assange, 52, has been charged by the US government over his role in the leaking of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010.
If proven guilty he could face up to 175 years of jail imprisonment.
Assange’s wife Stella in a post on social platform X asked Biden to drop the charges against her husband.
Earlier, she had said Assange’s physical and mental health were in decline in jail and he would die if sent to the US.
Assange and his supporters claim he exposed the US military approach. Washington on the other hand thinks the leaks put lives at risk by revealing documents that included the names of intelligence sources.
