The wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has filed a new application to review the British government's decision to extradite him to the United States. On Monday she appealed for clemency from the US president.
The international campaign to release Assange has support from public figures, intellectuals, and politicians around the world. Visiting the US this week, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that he had raised the topic with President Biden. Albanese has previously expressed frustration that the detention has gone on for so long.
"Biden could end this at any time. It is not in the interests of the (US) administration for Julian to be tried during an election period," said Stella Assange, speaking at the Swiss Press Club in Geneva.
"The UK is sending signals that it is speeding things up and wants to see Julian extradited. So Julian could very well be extradited by the end of the summer [...]. The Biden administration will then have to deal with it and I don't think that's in their interest," she said.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, Albanese confirmed his discussion with President Biden, saying "Enough is enough, I said this clearly. It is time to close this affair." The Australian premier did not divulge President Biden's response.
A demonstration of the 'Free Assange' committee in front of the United Kingdom embassy in Brussels, Monday 24 February 2020. Credit: Belga / Thierry Roge
The 52-year-old Australian is being prosecuted in the United States for having published more than 700,000 confidential documents on US military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, starting in 2010. He could face 175 in prison.
Arrested by British police in 2019 after seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden on charges of sexual assault, he has been held for the past four years in the high-security Belmarsh prison in east London.
Stella Assange, who is a lawyer, estimated that he could be extradited within a few weeks. The British government agreed to his extradition in June 2022 but Julian Assange has appealed. During the press conference, his wife explained that this appeal had been rejected about a month ago, but that a new application for review had been filed.
