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- Assange and his supporters say he exposed US military wrongdoing and see his case as a fight for media freedom
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he was 鈥渃onsidering鈥� a request by Australia to drop the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges.
Australia鈥檚 parliament passed a motion in February with the prime minister鈥檚 support calling for an end to the legal saga surrounding Assange, who has been held in Britain since 2019 while fighting extradition to the United States.
鈥淲e鈥檙e considering it,鈥� Biden replied at the White House when asked by a reporter if he had a response to Australiaa鈥檚 request.
Biden, who took the question while walking with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to a meeting in the Oval Office, did not elaborate.
Australian citizen Assange, 52, has been indicted by the US government over his role in the 2010 leaking of a huge trove of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If convicted, he faces jail terms of up to 175 years.
In response to Biden鈥檚 comments, Assange鈥檚 wife Stella said on social platform X: 鈥淒o the right thing. Drop the charges.鈥�
She has previously said Assange鈥檚 physical and mental health are in decline in jail and that her husband 鈥渨ill die鈥� if sent to the United States.
Assange and his supporters say he exposed US military wrongdoing and see his case as a fight for media freedom. Washington says his leaks put lives at risk by publishing documents that included the names of intelligence sources.
Assange is currently waiting to learn if he can make a last-ditch appeal against extradition, after a British court last month delayed a decision on his case. It is now expected May 20.
In late March, the High Court in London gave the United States three weeks to provide further 鈥渁ssurances鈥� on his treatment if he is sent there to face charges.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson on Wednesday called for 鈥渁 political solution鈥� to Assange鈥檚 plight, as supporters rallied in central London on the eve of the fifth anniversary of his arrest.
鈥淭his is a case that just should never have been started in the first place,鈥� Hrafnsson told AFP at the rally.
He said Assange鈥檚 time in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London was 鈥渟o excessive and so brutal.鈥�
Hrafnsson said Canberra should link the case to its landmark AUKUS security pact with Washington and London to secure Assange鈥檚 release.
鈥淭hey should be bold and say we have nothing to discuss unless you drop the charges against Julian Assange so he can walk free and come back to Australia,鈥� he said.
Before going to prison, Assange spent seven years in Ecuador鈥檚 London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault which were later dropped.
Other protests supporting Assange are expected around the world Thursday.
Campaign groups including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders have called for his release and denounced the prosecution under the 1917 US Espionage Act, which has never been used over the publishing of classified information.