LONDON (AP) 鈥� The wife of said Thursday her husband鈥檚 legal case 鈥渃ould be moving in the right direction鈥� after President Joe Biden confirmed the U.S. may drop charges against the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder.
It came as supporters in several cities rallied to demand the release of Assange, on the fifth anniversary of his incarceration in London鈥檚 high-security Belmarsh prison.
Biden said Wednesday that his administration is 鈥渃onsidering鈥� to drop the decade-long U.S. push to prosecute Assange for publishing a trove of classified American documents. The proposal would see Assange, an Australian citizen, return home rather than be sent to the U.S. to face espionage charges.
Officials have not provided more details, but Stella Assange said the comments are 鈥渁 good sign.鈥�
鈥淚t looks like things could be moving in the right direction,鈥� she told the BBC, saying the indictment was 鈥渁 Trump legacy and really Joe Biden should have dropped it from day one.鈥�
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the comment was encouraging.
鈥淢r. Assange has already paid a significant price and enough is enough,鈥� Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Assange has been indicted on 17 and one charge of computer misuse over his website鈥檚 publication of classified U.S. documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange, 52, encouraged and helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published, putting lives at risk.
Australia argues there is a disconnect between the U.S. treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning鈥檚 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
Assange鈥檚 supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange has been in prison since 2019 as he fought extradition, having spent seven years before that holed up in Ecuador鈥檚 London embassy to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
The relationship between Assange and his hosts from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and imprisoned him in Belmarsh for breaching bail in 2012.
The U.K. government signed an extradition order in 2022, but a British court ruled last month that Assange to the United States unless U.S. authorities guarantee he won鈥檛 get the death penalty.
A further court hearing in the case is scheduled for May 20.
Assange was too ill to attend his most recent hearings. Stella Assange has said her husband鈥檚 health continues to deteriorate in prison and she fears he鈥檒l die behind bars.
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said the WikiLeaks founder saw Biden鈥檚 comments as a 鈥渞ay of hope.鈥�
Hrafnsson, who visited Belmarsh Prison on Thursday, said Assange was 鈥渞esilient鈥� but 鈥渘ot in a good state.鈥�
鈥淲hat keeps him alive is his family and the tremendous support on the outside,鈥� he said.
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