Australia steps up calls for US to drop WikiLeaks charges

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he recently told U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to bring the prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder to a close. Albanese’s comments to Parliament on Wednesday appear to be an escalation of Australia’s diplomatic pressure on the United States to drop spying charges against Australian citizen Julian Assange. The 51-year-old is resisting extradition from Britain. Albanese did not say whether he had discussed Assange with Biden when the pair met in mid-November on the sidelines of a summit in Cambodia. But Albanese said he had advocated for Assange “recently in meetings.”