The US is “considering” dropping the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, following a request from the Australian government, US president Joe Biden has said.
Assange faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Mr Biden responded “we’re considering it”, when asked about the request from the Australian government by reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
It comes one day before the fifth anniversary of the 52-year-old being held in prison amid his fight against extradition to the US.
In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.
Later that year, US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assange’s extradition.
During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judge’s dismissal of other parts of his case to prevent his extradition.
In a judgment in March, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assange’s legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the US he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.
These assurances are that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment – which protects freedom of speech in the US, that he is not “prejudiced at trial” because of his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.
The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final hearing potentially taking place in late May.
