CANBERRA, Australia (AP) 鈥 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed frustration at the United States鈥 continuing efforts to extradite WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange, saying: 鈥淭here is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration.鈥
Albanese鈥檚 comments Friday in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview appeared to escalate diplomatic pressure on the United States to drop the charges against the , who has spent four years in Britain鈥檚 Belmarsh Prison fighting extradition to the United States.
Before that, in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Albanese said Assange鈥檚 case had to be examined in terms of whether the time Assange had 鈥渆ffectively served鈥 was in excess of what would be 鈥渞easonable鈥 if the allegations against him were proved.
鈥淚 just say that enough is enough. There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration,鈥 Albanese said.
鈥淚 know it鈥檚 frustrating, I share the frustration. I can鈥檛 do more than make very clear what my position is and the U.S. administration is certainly very aware of what the Australian government鈥檚 position is,鈥 Albanese added.
Assange has battled in British courts for years to avoid being sent to the U.S., where he faces 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse that stem from WikiLeaks鈥 publication of a huge trove of classified documents in 2010.
American prosecutors allege he helped steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk.
To his supporters, Assange is a secrecy-busting journalist who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Albanese said there was a 鈥渄isconnect鈥 between the U.S. treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning鈥檚 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
Albanese has said he in meetings with Biden administration officials. On Friday, he declined to say whether he would raise Assange with Biden when Albanese hosts the U.S. leader along with leaders of India and Japan in Sydney on May 24.
鈥淭he way that diplomacy works 鈥 is probably not to forecast the discussions that you will have, or have had with leaders of other nations,鈥 Albanese said. 鈥淚鈥檒l engage diplomatically in order to achieve an outcome.鈥
Albanese said he did not want to get into an argument about whether Assange鈥檚 alleged actions were right or wrong.
Albanese noted a British district court decision, since overturned, that rejected the extradition request on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions.
鈥淚 am concerned about Mr. Assange鈥檚 mental health,鈥 Albanese said.
