Julian Assange’s wife has called on Joe Biden to “do the right thing” and “drop the charges” as Thursday marks the fifth anniversary of her husband’s imprisonment.
The U.S. president said on Wednesday that he ‘Consideration’ of Australia’s requestAssange’s home country, dropped the prosecution and allowed the WikiLeaks founder to return to his home country.
Mr Biden’s comments welcomed as ‘inspiring’ Mr AssangeWikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson said it was “not too late” for the president to halt the extradition.
Meanwhile, Assange’s supporters around the world are preparing to mark the fifth anniversary of Assange being dragged out of London’s Belmarsh Prison from the Ecuadorian embassy.
Events will be held around the world on Thursday as supporters continue to campaign for his release.
Biden ‘considering’ dropping Assange prosecution
The 52-year-old faces prosecution in the United States on suspicion of conspiring to obtain and disclose defense information.
This comes after hundreds of thousands of leaked documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were released.
After Britain approved Assange’s extradition last year, Assange’s lawyers launched a last-ditch attempt in British courts in February to challenge the decision.
Julian Assange
Assange’s extradition was put on hold in March after London’s High Court said the United States must ensure Assange does not face the death penalty.
Further hearings in the case are scheduled for May.
What does Australia stand for?
Australia believes there is a disconnect between the United States’ treatment of Assange and US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
The United States accuses Assange of encouraging and helping Manning steal diplomatic cables and military documents that were later released by WikiLeaks, allegedly putting lives at risk.
Read more Sky News:
Why is Julian Assange in court again? What would happen if he was extradited to the United States?
Stella Assange: ‘It’s not safe to send Julian to the US’
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Ms Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but former US President Barack Obama commuted her sentence to seven years and she was released in 2017.
Assange’s supporters say he is a First Amendment-protected journalist who served the public interest by exposing U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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