WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange expected to be freed in US plea deal

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Julian Assange has come to an agreement with US prosecutors that would bring an end to the legal battle over leaked documents for the founder of WikiLeaks. This agreement could lead to his release from years of being held in custody.

As per documents filed in court on Monday, Assange has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiracy related to acquiring and sharing classified information pertaining to US national security. Prosecutors believe this incident to be one of the most significant breaches of classified material in the nation's history.

He is expected to enter his plea on Wednesday morning in federal court in Saipan, which is located in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory above Guam. Sentencing will follow shortly after he submits his plea. Assange has already spent 62 months in a UK prison and prosecutors are not asking for any more time behind bars.

The Saipan court was selected because Assange refused to participate in the legal process in the mainland United States. It is also nearer to his native Australia, where he intends to travel following the conclusion of the proceedings, as stated in a letter from prosecutors to the court.

WikiLeaks announced on Tuesday that Assange had been freed from Belmarsh, a highly secure prison in London, and had already left the UK after being granted bail.

The agreement with the Department of Justice has not been officially completed yet, the group stated. They will release more details as Assange comes back to Australia.

Julian Assange has been released, according to WikiLeaks. They mentioned that he had faced significant consequences for revealing stories about corruption within the government and violations of human rights.

The deal is meant to settle the long-standing dispute between the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Julian Assange, the well-known activist for government openness. Assange has been a highly publicized and controversial figure, facing legal issues in various countries.

Assange started WikiLeaks in 2006 to provide a place for leaked documents to be shared, revealing information he felt was important about secretive and influential groups like governments and corporations.

In 2010, the website released a collection of confidential military documents that were disclosed by Chelsea Manning, a former US army intelligence analyst. Manning, who was stationed in Iraq at the time, duplicated numerous military incident reports and approximately 250,000 diplomatic cables.

WikiLeaks received global recognition for sharing information about US activities in locations like Afghanistan and Iraq. However, some people, including the US government, argued that it broke the law and endangered the lives and safety of individuals.

In 2010, Sweden issued a warrant for the arrest of Assange in connection with a rape investigation. He then left Sweden and went to the United Kingdom. In 2012, the UK's highest court ruled that he could be extradited to Sweden, but Ecuador granted him asylum after he entered their embassy in London. In 2019, Ecuador revoked Assange's asylum status, and London police forcibly removed him from the embassy to arrest him at the request of the Department of Justice.

American legal representatives tried to bring Assange back to the United States to go to court for a formal accusation made public in 2019. This accusation claimed that he worked with others to illegally access a protected US government computer. He was also accused of obtaining and sharing confidential national defense information, leading to further criminal charges.

Assange has been resisting attempts to take him to the US for trial, claiming that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars if found guilty. In May, the High Court in London granted him the ability to challenge a decision permitting his extradition.

Manning was accused and found guilty of spying in relation to the WikiLeaks documents. Her 35-year jail term was reduced by Barack Obama just before he finished his term in the White House in 2017.

Australia's Labor government has been quietly pushing for a resolution to Assange's case since taking office in 2022. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese informed parliament that Assange's release was a positive step, but stressed that the legal process is critical and sensitive.

Albanese expressed that no matter what people think about Mr. Assange's actions, the legal process has been going on for an excessive amount of time. He believes that there is no benefit to keeping Assange in prison any longer and that it is time for him to return to Australia.

More information was provided by Nic Fildes in Sydney.