Washington: On Wednesday, President Joe Biden confirmed that he is weighing a plea from Australia to rescind the long-standing US campaign against prosecuting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for disseminating a cache of American classified records.
Australia has, for years, urged the US to withdraw its case against Assange, who has been waging a battle against US extradition from incarceration in the UK. Asked about the appeal as he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for an official meeting, Biden said, “We are evaluating it.”
Assange faces charges of espionage and one count of computer misuse related to his website’s release of classified U.S. documents approximately 15 years ago. American legal authorities argue that Assange, now 52, aided and guided US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing confidential diplomatic cables and military records which WikiLeaks then published, allegedly endangering lives.
Australia asserts there is a discrepancy between the US handling of Assange and Manning. Former US President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, resulting in her release in 2017.
Assange’s advocates claim he is a journalist shielded by the First Amendment who revealed US military misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan for the public good. Assange’s spouse, Stella Assange, contends that the WikiLeaks founder “is being persecuted because he exposed the human cost of war.” She asserts his health continues to decline in prison and fears he may perish while incarcerated.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Biden’s remarks on Assange as heartening.
“I have stated that we have represented, on Mr. Assange’s behalf, Australia’s national interests by asserting that sufficient is sufficient and this needs to be resolved, and we have raised it at every echelon of government in every conceivable manner,” Albanese informed the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “Mr. Assange has already suffered a significant toll, and sufficient is sufficient. In my strong opinion, there is no benefit in Mr. Assange’s ongoing imprisonment,” he concluded.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, reacting to Biden’s statement, noted in a declaration that “it is not too late for President Biden to halt Julian’s extradition to the U.S., which was a politically driven action by his predecessor.”
“By dismissing the charges against Julian, he will be upholding freedom of speech and the rights of journalists and publishers worldwide,” Hrafnsson stated. “We implore him to end this judicial ordeal, liberate Julian, and acknowledge that journalism is not a transgression.”
A British court decreed last month that Assange cannot be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless U.S. officials assure he will not face the death penalty.
