Julian Assange flies out of UK after reaching plea deal with US government

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WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange has been freed from Belmarsh prison and taken out of the UK by plane. He is getting ready to admit his guilt as part of an agreement with the US Justice Department, which might finally resolve his ongoing legal troubles.

Assange, who is 52 years old, got on a plane at Stansted airport at 5pm UK time on Monday. He is headed to the federal court in the Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Western Pacific, where he will be appearing later this week. The US government has accused him of conspiring to obtain and reveal national defense information.

As per a recent document submitted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), there will be a court session in the Mariana Islands on Wednesday morning. During this session, Assange is expected to admit guilt to a charge under the Espionage Act for conspiring to illegally obtain and share classified national defense information. He is set to receive a sentence of 62 months, which includes the time he has already spent in custody. The hearing will take place on the island of Saipan at 9am local time.

The accusations against Assange in the United States are related to one of the biggest releases of secret information in American history, which occurred while Barack Obama was serving his first term as president.

Assange was charged by the US government with working together with Chelsea Manning, a military intelligence analyst, to leak a large number of activity reports related to the war in Afghanistan.

The papers also contained unedited US diplomatic messages that could have put confidential sources at risk, reports on important events related to the Iraq war, and details about prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

The data was leaked between 2009 and 2011, according to the documents.

The details were posted on the internet on Assange's WikiLeaks webpage.

The latest agreement will enable Assange to evade being jailed in the United States. The prosecution plans to request a 62-month sentence, which is equal to the duration he spent in the maximum-security Belmarsh prison in London while resisting extradition to the US.

In the previous month, he successfully obtained permission to challenge an extradition order. His legal team put forward the argument that the assurances provided by the US government were insufficient, as they did not guarantee the same level of free speech rights as an American citizen, if he were to be extradited from the UK.

On a recent update from WikiLeaks, it was stated that Assange had exited Belmarsh Prison on Wednesday after spending 1,901 days there. He was seen boarding a flight from Stansted airport.

"This outcome was achieved through a worldwide effort involving local activists, advocates for press freedom, government officials, and individuals from various political backgrounds, including the United Nations. This paved the way for extensive discussions with the US Department of Justice, resulting in a tentative agreement that is still pending final approval," according to the announcement.

After spending over five years confined in a small cell for most of the day, he will soon be able to be with his wife Stella Assange and their children. The children have only seen their father while he was in prison.

The message also mentioned that WikiLeaks released important news stories about corrupt governments and violations of human rights, making sure that those in power were held responsible for what they did.

Julian, as the top editor, faced harsh consequences for sticking to his beliefs and the public's right to information. As he comes back to Australia, we express gratitude to all who supported us, defended us, and remained completely dedicated in the battle for his release. Julian's release means freedom for all of us.

A video shared on X by Wikileaks showed Assange wearing a blue shirt and jeans signing a document before getting on a private jet with the logo of charter company VistaJet.

"Julian has been released!!" exclaimed Stella Assange, his wife, in a message on X.

We can't find the words to truly thank all of you who have supported us for so long to make this dream a reality.

According to information from FlightRadar24, the plane that took off from Stansted on Monday afternoon was flying towards Bangkok. A representative for Assange in Australia chose not to provide any details about his travel arrangements. VistaJet did not respond promptly to a request for clarification.

The Australian government, headed by prime minister Anthony Albanese, has been advocating for the release of Assange but has chosen not to give any statements on the legal process that is still underway.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Albanese, has clearly stated that Mr. Assange's case has gone on for too long and there is no benefit to keeping him in prison, according to a spokesperson for the government.

Before he was put in jail at Belmarsh, Assange sought safety at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012. He was given political asylum after courts in England decided he should be sent to Sweden as part of a rape investigation.

The British police arrested him when Ecuador's government no longer protected him in 2019. He was jailed for not showing up to court when he first sought refuge in the embassy. Sweden decided to stop investigating the sex crimes because too much time had passed.

Assange's family and allies have previously stated that his physical and mental well-being has greatly declined over the course of more than ten years of legal disputes.

If a federal judge agrees, the new agreement would count the time Assange has already served, which means he could go back to Australia right away.

Assange is praised by people all over the world as a hero for revealing military misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the documents released by WikiLeaks showed a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter assault by US troops in Baghdad that resulted in the deaths of 11 individuals, including two reporters from Reuters.

However, his character was also marred by accusations of rape, which he claims are untrue.

Assange was charged under former president Donald Trump's term for the major disclosure of confidential US files by WikiLeaks. These documents were provided by Chelsea Manning, a former US military intelligence analyst who was also brought up on charges under the Espionage Act.

The accusations against Assange have caused anger among his numerous supporters worldwide, who believe that Assange, as the person in charge of Wikileaks, should not be charged with offenses usually reserved for government employees who steal or release information.

Numerous defenders of press freedom have claimed that bringing criminal charges against Assange poses a danger to freedom of speech.

Jameel Jaffer, who is the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, stated that reaching a plea deal could prevent the direst outcome for freedom of the press. However, he noted that this agreement involves Assange spending five years in jail for actions that are common among journalists on a daily basis.

"It will have a significant impact on the most crucial forms of journalism, not only in this nation but also globally."

The deal was made several months following President Joe Biden's announcement that he was thinking about Australia's appeal to stop the American effort to charge Assange.

Manning was given a 35-year prison sentence for breaking the Espionage Act and other crimes for sharing confidential government and military files with WikiLeaks. President Obama reduced her sentence in 2017, which meant she was able to leave prison after serving approximately seven years.