The United States is ‘considering’ dropping the charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, President Biden has announced.

Assange, 52, faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

The Wikileaks founder published hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which saw him indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse.

During a two-day court hearing in February, Mr Assange’s lawyers sought to appeal against his extradition to the US, which they argued was a breach of freedom of expression and feared such a move may see him receive the death penalty.

In February, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also backed a motion to bring Assange, an Australian national, back to his home country, claiming that ‘Enough is enough’ and ‘This thing cannot just go on and on and on indefinitely’.

When asked about the request by reporters at the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said ‘we’re considering it’ – comments described as ‘encouraging’ by Mr Assange’s lawyer.

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