Biden considering dropping charges against Assange

(Patria) - US President Joe Biden is considering Australia's request for the US to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who published a series of classified US documents.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese supported in February a measure by the House of Representatives calling for the return of the 52-year-old Assange to Australia.

Washington wants Assange extradited from Great Britain to the US.

"We are considering it," the US President told a reporter who was interested in whether there was a response to Australia's request to stop prosecuting its citizen.

"Do the right thing, drop the charges," Assange's wife later wrote on platform X.

US prosecutors want to prosecute the 52-year-old Assange for WikiLeaks' publication of numerous US military records and diplomatic cables.

Washington claims that the Australian endangered the lives of US agents and that there is no justification for his actions.

Supporters, however, celebrate him as a hero who is being prosecuted for exposing US crimes.

His extradition was put on hold in March after the High Court in London stated that the US must provide guarantees that he does not face the death penalty.

Assange's lawyer, in his first reaction, called the information that Biden is considering the Australian request to drop his prosecution "encouraging".