Julian Assange is Free: WikiLeaks Founder Released in Deal with US
Assange to Plead Guilty to Espionage Charge and Return to Australia After Long Fight Against US Extradition Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been released from a UK prison and is returning to his home country, Australia, after reaching a plea deal with the United States. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of breaching US espionage laws, concluding a protracted legal battle over his extradition. According to a filing in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, Assange will plead guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defense documents. He was released from Belmarsh high-security prison on Monday and immediately flew out of the country. Assange will appear in a court in Saipan, a US Pacific territory, on Wednesday at 9 AM local time (Tuesday, 23:00 GMT), where he will be sentenced to 62 months, which he has already served. “Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks announced in a statement on X ( formerly Twitter )....
