Mr Assange has suffered greatly since being forced to take refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy more than a decade ago. He is now too ill to appear in court - even by video link - in his own defence.

The irony that he has been mercilessly targeted by a nation whose foundation document enshrines the freedom of speech as a basic human right should not be lost on anybody. Nor should the fact it would appear his greatest sin is that he embarrassed the US government by exposing war crimes committed by its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While opinions within Australian parliamentary circles cover a broad spectrum with some MPs considering Assange a heroic journalist and others as a "useful idiot" who ran a "false flag" operation for anti-Western interests there is broad agreement he should be allowed to return here.

That was clear on February 14 when Australian MPs voted 86 to 42 in support of Mr Assange's release and repatriation.

Moved by Tasmanian MP and former Iraq war whistleblower Andrew Wilkie, the motion stressed "the importance of the UK and USA bringing the matter to a close so that Mr Assange can return home to his family in Australia".

Mr Wilkie, who was in the UK to attend Mr Assange's appeal hearing against the decision to extradite him to the US last week, has been crusading for the former hacker and award-winning journalist's release for years.

"If Mr Assange is extradited to the US, it would be a direct attack on media freedom, as it would set a frightening precedent for all journalists that they too are at risk of being locked up just for doing their job," Mr Wilkie told the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who also voted in favour of the motion, agreed that "it is time for this [the incarceration and prosecution of Assange] to be brought to a close".

It is now almost 12 years since Mr Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He has been on remand in the UK's Belmarsh Prison - a high-security facility - without trial for about five years.

Both his physical and mental health have declined dramatically. His wife and family fear for his welfare.

They say if he is extradited to the US where he would face 17 espionage charges and one charge of "computer misuse" he would almost certainly die in jail. That's hard to dispute given Mr Assange faces a sentence of up to 175 years.

The zeal with which the US has continued to prosecute (or persecute) Assange is hard to fathom given it is now known the Iraq war was based on a lie and that significant human rights abuses and non-judicial killings (murders) were committed by Western forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Clair Dobbin, representing the US at last week's appeal hearing, asserted people had "disappeared" because Mr Assange published classified material leaked by Chelsea Manning. That said no evidence has been provided that anybody was killed as a result of the Wikileaks data dump.

Ms Dobbin said Mr Assange was complicit in Chelsea Manning's theft of classified documents and could not be considered "an ordinary journalist or publisher".

While Chelsea Manning was originally convicted and sentenced to 35 years that penalty was commuted to seven years by Barack Obama while Joe Biden was vice president. Ms Manning was released in 2017.

If the Obama administration could extend clemency to Ms Manning for what was effectively time served then why won't the Biden administration do the same for Mr Assange?

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