Julian Assange’s brother responds to claim Biden is ‘considering request’ to drop charges

Joe Biden’s consideration of dropping charges against Julian Assange is “significant”, the brother of the WikiLeaks founder has said.

The president said on Wednesday 10 April that he is considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long US push to prosecute Mr Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Biden’s comment was “encouraging”.

“This is a controversial prosecution and I think something that Joe Biden could easily get rid of in an election year,” Mr Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Sky News.