CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed frustration on the United States’ persevering with efforts to extradite WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange, saying: “There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration.”

Albanese’s feedback Friday in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview appeared to escalate diplomatic stress on the United States to drop the costs in opposition to the 51-year-old Assange, who has spent 4 years in Britain’s Belmarsh Prison preventing extradition to the United States.

Before that, Assange had taken asylum for seven years within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Albanese mentioned Assange’s case needed to be examined by way of whether or not the time Assange had “effectively served” was in extra of what could be “reasonable” if the allegations in opposition to him have been proved.

“I just say that enough is enough. There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration,” Albanese mentioned.

“I know it’s frustrating, I share the frustration. I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is and the U.S. administration is certainly very aware of what the Australian government’s position is,” Albanese added.

Assange has battled in British courts for years to keep away from being despatched to the U.S., the place he faces 17 expenses of espionage and one cost of pc misuse that stem from WikiLeaks’ publication of an enormous trove of categorised paperwork in 2010.

American prosecutors allege he helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal categorised diplomatic cables and army information that WikiLeaks later revealed, placing lives in danger.

To his supporters, Assange is a secrecy-busting journalist who uncovered U.S. army wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Albanese mentioned there was a “disconnect” between the U.S. therapy of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her launch in 2017.

Albanese has mentioned he has advocated for Assange in conferences with Biden administration officers. On Friday, he declined to say whether or not he would elevate Assange with Biden when Albanese hosts the U.S. chief together with leaders of India and Japan in Sydney on May 24.

“The way that diplomacy works … is probably not to forecast the discussions that you will have, or have had with leaders of other nations,” Albanese mentioned. “I’ll engage diplomatically in order to achieve an outcome.”

Albanese mentioned he didn't need to get into an argument about whether or not Assange’s alleged actions have been proper or mistaken.

Albanese famous a British district court docket determination, since overturned, that rejected the extradition request on the grounds that Assange was more likely to kill himself if held below harsh U.S. jail circumstances.

“I am concerned about Mr. Assange’s mental health,” Albanese mentioned.

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