Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been released from prison in the United Kingdom after reaching a plea deal with the United States Department of Justice.
Mr Assange’s release follows years of legal wrangling and controversy. Supporters have hailed him as a champion of freedom of speech and press, while critics have accused him of recklessly jeopardizing U.S. national security and endangering lives.
Mr Assange spent 12 years fighting extradition from the UK, where he was arrested in 2019, on charges related to the publication of classified U.S. documents by WikiLeaks in 2010. Previously, he stayed for seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition.
Mr Assange will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose U.S. national defense information in exchange for being sentenced to time he has spent in UK custody.
A computer security expert, Mr Assange obtained over 750,000 files of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents from Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst. The documents, which were leaked in 2010, included detailed records of American military operations and war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as confidential diplomatic cables, revealing numerous controversial aspects of U.S. foreign policy actions.
WikiLeaks published many top-secret files, including the footage of a U.S. military helicopter gunning down civilians in Baghdad in 2007 after mistaking them for hostiles. The diplomatic cables included those from Nigeria, dating back to its civil war in the 1960s.
The publication of the files by WikiLeaks garnered significant international attention and sparked widespread debate over government transparency and the ethical implications of leaking classified information.
Persecution
While the leaks sparked international debate, Mr Assange faced charges in Sweden for alleged sexual assault, which he denied and fought against being sent to Sweden, fearing he would be extradited to the U.S.
He eventually fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 where he lived more than seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden.
In 2019, Ecuador under a new president revoked Mr Assange’s asylum, leading to his arrest by British authorities. His subsequent legal battles focused on preventing his extradition to the U.S., where he could have faced a lengthy prison sentence.
He was later convicted of jumping bail and spent five years in the Belmarsh prison in London.
U.S. Plea Deal
Mr. Assange is scheduled to appear in court in the U.S. Pacific territory of the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday. The plea deal he has agreed to will carry a sentence of five years, equivalent to the time he has already served in the UK. If the deal had not been reached, Mr. Assange could have faced up to 175 years in prison if convicted, according to his legal team.
The aircraft transporting Mr. Assange made a stop in Thailand, landing at Don Mueang International Airport north of Bangkok for refueling and resupplying, local officials reported. It is expected to continue to Saipan.
The Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, was selected by the Assange defense team due to its distance from the continental US and its proximity to Australia, according to court papers.
Stella Assange, Mr. Assange’s wife, shared in a video posted to social media, recorded outside Belmarsh Prison last week, that the developments had occurred very rapidly.
“This phase of our lives is, I believe, now over,” said Ms. Assange, who secretly began a romantic relationship with Mr. Assange after joining his legal team to fight extradition to Sweden. The couple has two young sons.
“With Julian’s release, a new chapter begins,” she added.
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