Julian Assange, the co-founder of WikiLeaks, has been released from prison in the UK and is set to return to his home country of Australia after agreeing to plead guilty to charges of illegally disseminating national security material in the U.S. This surprising development was reported by NBC News and court documents filed by the U.S. federal government in the Northern Mariana Islands indicate that a plea deal is imminent, pending approval by a judge.
Assange, who faced a possible 170 years in prison, has been held in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison for the past five years. This follows a tumultuous period that began in 2012 when he sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy. He was eventually dragged out of the embassy by British authorities in April 2019.
News of Assange’s release was shared on the WikiLeaks Twitter account, stating that he left Belmarsh Prison after spending 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and departed the UK from Stansted airport. A video released by WikiLeaks shows Assange reading paperwork and boarding a plane, presumably headed to the Northern Mariana Islands to enter his plea.
The plea deal was reportedly accepted by top officials at the Justice Department due to the fact that Assange had already served five years in the UK while awaiting extradition to the U.S. The original charges against him, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump in 2019, included 18 counts of violating the Espionage Act and other related charges. However, Assange is expected to plead guilty to only one charge related to providing instructions to whistleblower Chelsea Manning on accessing classified computers.
The Australian government had advocated for Assange’s release, and while President Joe Biden had not intervened in the case, the plea deal brings an end to a long-running saga that has spanned over a decade. Assange, who has reportedly experienced health issues during his time in prison, appeared healthy in the video released by WikiLeaks.
The developments surrounding Assange’s release mark a significant moment in his ongoing legal battles and raise questions about his future involvement with WikiLeaks. The impact of this plea deal on press freedom and national security remains to be seen, as Assange’s case has sparked debates about the role of journalists in disseminating sensitive information.
