LONDON — Julian Assange’s supporters appeared energized Thursday by President Biden’s comment that the United States was “considering” a request to drop its push to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder.
Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s wife, told the BBC on Thursday that she thought Biden’s comments were a “good sign” and that it “looks like things could be moving in the right direction.”
She made the remarks on the fifth anniversary of Assange’s imprisonment in London’s Belmarsh prison. Assange was taken to the high-security facility in southeast London in 2019 after being dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he stayed for seven years fighting extradition to the United States.
On Wednesday, Biden was asked by reporters at the White House about a request from the Australian government to drop the prosecution of Assange, who is an Australian citizen.
Biden responded, “We’re considering it.” He spoke while walking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida toward the Oval Office.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
Assange’s U.S.-based lawyer Barry Pollack did not directly respond to a question about whether he had been involved in any discussions to resolve the case. “It is encouraging that President Biden has confirmed that the United States is considering dropping its case against Julian Assange,” Pollack said in an email on Thursday. “This unprecedented prosecution of someone for publishing truthful and newsworthy information should never have been brought. It is time to end the matter and allow Mr. Assange to return to Australia.”
Assange faces prosecution in the United States related to the 2010 publication of a huge trove of leaked military records and diplomatic cables about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been advocating for Assange’s release, was asked by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday if he thought Biden’s remark was a throwaway comment or whether there was something more to it.
It was an “encouraging comment from President Biden,” Albanese responded.
“I believe this must be brought to a conclusion and that 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.
In February, the Australian Parliament passed a resolution that called for Assange to be allowed to return to his home country.
Gabriel Shipton, Assange’s brother, told Sky News that Biden’s comment was a “foot in the door” and that now was the time to “push hard” to get him back to Australia.
The British courts are pondering an extradition request from the United States. Last month, the High Court in London ruled that U.S. officials must first provide assurances to British authorities that Assange would be able to rely on free-speech protections and not incur the death penalty in a U.S. trial. The court said U.S. authorities had three weeks to give assurances and that its ruling on whether to grant Assange an appeal hearing would be pushed to late May.
Rizzo reported from Washington.