Julian Assange’s wife hailed the US consideration of a request by Australia to drop prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder as a good sign today, on the fifth anniversary of his arrest.
Yesterday, US President Joe Biden said in an interview that Washington is considering a request from Australia to drop the charges against Assange, a citizen of that country.
“I think it’s a good sign (…). It looks like things are going in the right direction after five years in Belmars maximum security prison and 14 years since he lost his freedom,” said his wife and lawyer Stella Assange in an interview with the BBC.
On April 11, 2019, Julian Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He had fled there in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was being prosecuted for rape, a charge that was later dropped, but mainly to the US where he was accused of hacking.
Prosecuted for the leak since 2010 of more than 700,000 confidential documents about US military and diplomatic activities, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan, the WikiLeaks founder, now 52, faces up to 175 years in prison in USA, if issued by British justice.
For 5 years now he has been fighting before the British courts to avoid the possibility of extradition.
“He is very anxious”
“Julian Assange is not really well, he is very worried,” stressed his wife, who has already warned of the possibility of suicide.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Christine Hrafnson, who visited Assange in Belmars prison this morning, also called the consideration of that request a “positive sign” for the site’s founder, stressing that she would still need to know more details.
“It’s a sign that this long-running horrific saga of Julian Assange’s prosecution may be coming to an end,” he added.
Today marks 5 years in Belmarsh. #FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/iarmWkcPiw
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) April 11, 2024
With the support of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australia’s parliament passed a resolution in February calling for the prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder to be dropped.
“These prosecutions date back to the era of (former President Donald) Trump, it’s his legacy, and Joe Biden should have ended it from day one,” Assange added, recalling that former President Barack Obama had for his part, he decided not to prosecute Assange, for fear of “setting a precedent” against the press.
“I hope Joe Biden will drop the case, as the entire human rights and press freedom community is asking,” Stella Assange said.
Source: RES-MPE
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