Julian Assange’s wife welcomes Biden hint on fifth anniversary of incarceration in Belmarsh

Julian Assange’s wife on Thursday welcomed suggestions that the US might drop its long-running prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder as his supporters marked five years since he was sent to Belmarsh prison in London.

Stella Assange said comments by US President Joe Biden were a “good sign”, ahead of the Australian-born campaigner’s latest court date in London next month.

Mr Biden was asked about a request from the Australian government to call off the legal pursuit of the 52-year-old. He said: “We’re considering it.”

Mr Assange is fighting against a US bid to extradite him on espionage charges that could land him in jail for 175 years. The High Court in London is due to hold its next hearing on May 20 into whether he can appeal an earlier extradition ruling, having given the US government a deadline to issue assurances about his future treatment if he is sent there.

It is understood that despite the hopes raised among his supporters by Mr Biden’s comment, Mr Assange will remain in Belmarsh until he wins any appeal, he is extradited, or the United States formally drops its request for extradition.

He  faces prosecution in the United States over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose secret military and diplomatic files in 2010 relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Stella Assange told BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme: “This is a prosecution from the Trump era. It’s a Trump legacy and really Joe Biden should have dropped it from day one.

“It would set a precedent that could be used against the rest of the press because it criminalises journalistic activity, news gathering, and that’s why Obama didn’t pursue it and commuted Chelsea Manning’s sentence.”

Former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 for handing over more than 700,000 documents containing classified information to WikiLeaks, but her sentence was commuted by Barack Obama in 2017.

Ms Assange added: “The prime minister of Australia overnight said that he is optimistic so it looks like things could be moving in the right direction.”

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese said: “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.”

Ms Assange said her husband is “extremely unwell” from the stress of potential extradition and cited “credible reports that he was this victim of a murder plot that the CIA was hatching”.

She said: “So, the country that has plotted to assassinate him is still able to extradite him, and I hope Joe Biden really drops this case now as the entire human rights community and press freedom community is asking him to do.”

Prior to be being sent to Belmarsh, Mr Assange had taken refuge in London’s Ecuadorian embassy for seven years to avoid arrest after Sweden asked Britain to extradite him for questioning over an allegation of rape, which he denied. The investigation was later dropped.

His detractors insist he is not a legitimate journalist but a reckless activist who endangered the lives of US and allied intelligence sources with his leaks.