WikiLeaks Case: Accused Spy Julian Assange Released from UK Prison After Plea Deal with US
Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website, who used his website to publish stolen US military cables, has been released from a British prison after more than 5 years behind bars and flown out of the UK. Assange has agreed to enter into a plea deal with the Biden administration that will allow him to avoid imprisonment in the United States.
This is stated in the WikiLeaks publication.
A video posted by WikiLeaks on X, formerly Twitter, showed Assange, dressed in a blue shirt and jeans, signing the document before boarding a private jet.
According to The Telegraph, Julian Assange was released from prison on bail and will return to Australia.
Assange pleaded guilty to one crime in exchange for his immediate release. This is evidenced by documents filed on Monday in the US District Court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean.
In turn, the US Department of Justice has agreed to drop all 18 espionage charges against Assange, instead accusing him only of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
Under the terms of the agreement with the United States, the journalist will be sentenced to 62 months in prison, but the five years he has already spent in HMP Belmarsh prison in the UK will be counted towards this term.
Before Assange's plea deal with the US takes effect, it still needs to be approved by a federal judge.
Assange is due to appear in a US federal court on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. local time (Tuesday, 23:00 GMT) in Saipan, the capital of the US-controlled Northern Mariana Islands. The case is being heard outside the continental United States because Assange has resisted travelling there.
He will return to Australia after the hearing, Wikileaks added in a statement.