WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from prison after reaching a plea deal with the US government. The official WikiLeaks account on X, previously known as Twitter, shared the news of his release after being granted bail by the High Court in London. A video was also posted showing Assange boarding a plane at Stansted Airport. He is expected to appear in a US courtroom in the Northern Mariana Islands on June 26 to finalize the terms of his plea deal.
The US Department of Justice’s letter obtained by The Washington Post states that Assange will plead guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information related to national defense. Following the proceedings, Assange will return to his home country of Australia. Justice Department prosecutors have recommended a 62-month sentence, but due to Assange’s previous time served in a UK prison, he will not face additional incarceration in the US.
Assange, as the former editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, was responsible for publishing classified US information obtained from whistleblower Chelsea Manning regarding the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In 2010, Sweden issued an arrest warrant for Assange on charges of sexual assault, which were later dropped in 2017. Seeking asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Assange lived there for seven years until being removed and arrested by the London police on behalf of the US government.
In a statement released by WikiLeaks, it was mentioned that Assange spent 1,901 days at Belmarsh maximum security prison before his release. The organization credited a “global campaign” involving press freedom advocates, lawmakers, and leaders from various political backgrounds for facilitating negotiations with the US Department of Justice that led to the plea agreement. This marks a significant development in the long-standing legal battle surrounding Assange’s actions and the charges brought against him.
