After years of legal challenges, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has left the UK following an agreement with US authorities. This deal will result in Assange pleading guilty to criminal charges and subsequently being freed.
Assange, aged 52, faced accusations of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. For years, the US argued that the WikiLeaks releases, which included details about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, put lives at risk. Assange spent the last five years in a British prison, fighting extradition to the US.
According to CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Assange will not serve time in US custody and will receive credit for the time he has already served in the UK. He is expected to return to Australia, as confirmed by a letter from the US Justice Department.
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, WikiLeaks announced that Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday after spending 1,901 days in a small cell. He was released at Stansted airport in the afternoon, where he boarded a plane to Australia.
Video shared by WikiLeaks appears to show Assange, dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, being driven to Stansted before boarding the aircraft. The BBC has not independently verified the video.
His wife, Stella Assange, expressed her gratitude to supporters on social media, thanking those who “mobilised for years and years to make this come true.” The deal, which involves Assange pleading guilty to one charge, is expected to be finalised in court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, 26 June.
The Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Pacific, are much closer to Australia than US federal courts in Hawaii or the mainland US. An Australian government spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that the case had “dragged on for too long.”
Assange’s lawyer, Richard Miller, declined to comment when contacted by CBS. The BBC has also reached out to his US-based lawyer. Assange and his legal team have long claimed that the case against him is politically motivated. In April, US President Joe Biden said he was considering a request from Australia to drop the prosecution against Assange.
The following month, the UK High Court ruled that Assange could bring a new appeal against extradition to the US, allowing him to challenge US assurances about the conduct of his prospective trial and whether his right to free speech would be protected. After the ruling, Stella Assange urged the Biden administration to “distance itself from this shameful prosecution.”
WikiLeaks, which Assange founded in 2006, claims to have published over 10 million documents in what the US government described as “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.”
What Will Julian Assange Plead Guilty To?
Assange is expected to appear in a US courtroom in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday. US prosecutors initially sought to try Assange on 18 counts, mostly under the Espionage Act, for releasing confidential US military records and diplomatic communications related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a statement listing the 18 charges from 2019, the US government accused Assange of conspiring to break into US military databases to obtain sensitive information. Assange has denied these charges, asserting that the leaks were an act of journalism.
However, on Wednesday, Assange will only plead guilty to one charge. According to CBS News, Justice Department prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of 62 months following the guilty plea. Under the agreement, Assange will not serve any additional time in US prison as he will be credited for the approximately five years he spent in a UK prison.
Had Assange been convicted of the original 18 charges, his lawyers argued he could have faced up to 175 years in prison, though US officials suggested a sentence of four to six years was more likely.
IN BLOG: Kylian Mbappe Returns From France With A Broken Nose
US Charges Against Julian Assange
Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. For years, the US government argued that the WikiLeaks releases about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars endangered lives. The charges were brought during the Trump administration, and prosecutors initially sought to try Assange on 18 counts. Most of these charges were under the 1917 Espionage Act, which criminalises the mishandling of government records related to national defence. Press freedom advocates argue that the law is outdated and that charging journalists under it sets a dangerous precedent.
WikiLeaks and Its Leaks
Since its launch in 2006, WikiLeaks has been known for publishing thousands of classified documents on topics ranging from the film industry to national security and wars. In 2010, it released a video from a US military helicopter showing the killing of civilians in Baghdad, Iraq. It also published hundreds of thousands of documents leaked by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was arrested, imprisoned, and later freed. Documents related to the Afghanistan war revealed how the US military killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents. Additional documents from the Iraq war showed that 66,000 civilians were killed—more than previously reported—and that prisoners were tortured by Iraqi forces.
Timeline of Assange’s Legal Troubles
Here are some key moments in Julian Assange’s legal battles:
– August 2010: The Swedish Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Assange on allegations of rape and molestation, which he denied.
– December 2010: Assange was arrested in London and bailed at the second attempt.
– May 2012: The UK Supreme Court ruled that he should be extradited to Sweden to face questioning.
– June 2012: Assange entered the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he was granted asylum.
– April 2017: The US Attorney General stated that Assange’s arrest was a “priority” for the US.
– May 2017: Sweden dropped the rape investigation into Assange after earlier dropping other investigations.
– November 2018: It was revealed that the US Justice Department had secretly filed charges against him.
– April 2019: Assange was arrested in the UK after the Ecuadorean government withdrew his asylum. He was found guilty of breaching the Bail Act and sent to Belmarsh Prison.
– May 2019: Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks imprisonment but continued to be held after serving the sentence.
– January 2021: A judge ruled that Assange could not be extradited to the US.
– December 2021: The US government won a bid to overturn the decision not to extradite Assange.
– April 2022: The UK Home Secretary signed Assange’s extradition order after he was denied permission to appeal the December 2021 ruling. He appealed the latest extradition order in July.
– June 2023: Assange lost his latest extradition appeal bid.
– May 2024: The UK High Court ruled that he could bring a new extradition appeal.
– June 2024: Assange was granted bail and released from prison following negotiations with US authorities over a plea deal.
Who is Julian Assange?
To his supporters, Julian Assange is a campaigner for truth. To his critics, he is a publicity seeker who endangered lives by releasing sensitive information. Born in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, in 1971, Assange became a father at 18. In 1995, he faced accusations of numerous hacking activities and eventually pleaded guilty, avoiding a jail term on the condition that he did not reoffend. Assange also delved into academia, co-writing a bestselling book on the subversive side of the internet before studying physics and maths. He established WikiLeaks in 2006, gaining global attention four years later with high-profile disclosures of classified US documents.
ALSO READ: Police Fired tear gas and water cannons on Kenyian Protesters
One thought on “Julian Assange Leaves UK Prison After Plea Deal with US”