London - The wife of Julian Assange expressed optimism on Thursday regarding her husband's legal case, stating that it "could be moving in the right direction" following President Biden's indication that the U.S. might drop charges against the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder. This development coincided with supporters in various cities rallying for Assange's release on the fifth anniversary of his incarceration in London's high-security Belmarsh prison.
The proposed course of action would involve Assange, an Australian citizen, returning home instead of being extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges.
While U.S. officials have not provided additional details, Stella Assange described the remarks as "a good sign."
"It looks like things could be moving in the right direction," she remarked to CBS News partner network BBC News, labeling her husband's indictment as "a Trump legacy." She also expressed her belief that "really Joe Biden should have dropped it from day one."
Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website's 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's 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
Assange's 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, and he spent seven years before that holed up in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
The relationship between Assange and his Ecuadorian hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted 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 can't be sent to the United States unless U.S. authorities guarantee he won't get the death penalty and provide other assurances. A further court hearing in the case is scheduled for May 20.
Julian Assange has been granted a lifeline in his fight against extradition. The court has acknowledged that Assange has a strong chance of winning on 3 out of 9 grounds of appeal. One of the key demands made by the court is that U.S. authorities must guarantee Assange's right to invoke the First Amendment, ensuring his freedom of speech is protected. They also emphasized that Assange should not face any discrimination based on his nationality and should receive the same protections as a U.S. citizen, including being shielded from the death penalty.
Due to his poor health, Assange was unable to attend his recent hearings. His wife, Stella Assange, has expressed grave concerns about his deteriorating health in prison, fearing that he may not survive his time behind bars.
