Pope Francis met Friday with the wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange, as he nears the "endgame" of his fight against extradition to
the United States on espionage charges.
Francis, the head of the worldwide Catholic Church, "received in
audience Ms Stella Assange, with family members," the Vatican said in a
short statement.
On Twitter, Stella Assange said she and her
children had been given a private audience with the 86-year-old
Argentine pontiff, adding: "We are overwhelmed."
Julian Assange is
in prison in Britain, fighting extradition to the US, where he faces
trial for allegedly violating the US Espionage Act by publishing
military and diplomatic files in 2010 related to the Afghanistan and
Iraq wars.
He could be sentenced to decades behind bars if found guilty.
During
a protest in London against his extradition earlier this month, his
wife said his transfer to the United States could be imminent.
"Julian
could be a few weeks away from extradition. We don't have a clear
timeline, but this really is the endgame," Stella Assange told
reporters.
Supporters portray the Australian publisher as a martyr to press freedom
The 51-year-old has been held since 2019 at the Belmarsh high security prison in southeast London.
He
previously spent nearly seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy in
London to avoid extradition to Sweden on allegations of sexual assault.
He claimed the allegations were politically motivated, linked to the work of WikiLeaks.
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