WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange agrees to plead guilty and be released from prison


by Duncan Cumming

Julian Assange, founder of the anonymous whistleblower website WikiLeaks, has pleaded guilty to charges in a deal with the US Department of Justice and has been released from Belmage Prison on the outskirts of London after 1,901 days in custody.



Julian Assange to be freed from prison in plea deal with DOJ | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/assange-plea-deal-wikileaks-justice-department-d329ba4614dbfa77b5eb968d07fd9bd0

WikiLeaks has released a variety of confidential information, and in 2010 it released classified documents from the National Security Agency and a video of a collision between a Chinese fishing boat and a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, which became a hot topic.

Chinese fishing boat collision off the Senkaku Islands, original footage leaked to YouTube? - GIGAZINE



In 2012, the founder, Mr. Assange, was arrested on suspicion of sexual crimes in Sweden. He claimed that it was a pretext to arrest him, and while out on bail, he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy and sought asylum. However, he was eventually arrested again due to a deterioration in relations with the Ecuadorian government.

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who has exposed numerous classified information, is arrested - GIGAZINE



'A global campaign involving grassroots activists, press freedom advocates, lawmakers, cross-party leaders, and even the United Nations led to lengthy negotiations with the Department of Justice that culminated in an agreement that has yet to be formally finalized,' WikiLeaks' official X (formerly Twitter) account reported.

Assange is being held in Saipan and is due to appear in federal court in the Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Western Pacific, before being extradited to Australia. Assange himself has said he opposes travelling to the US mainland.

According to court filings by the Department of Justice, Assange plans to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act for 'conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information.' WikiLeaks says it's a plea bargain, and in return Assange will be released from prison and allowed to return to his wife and children.

Since his arrest, Assange has faced a slew of lawsuits over the publication of classified documents, and his guilty plea marks the end of a long legal battle.

WikiLeaks said: 'As Mr Assange returns to Australia, we would like to thank all those who stood by us, fought for us and continued to do everything in their power to secure his freedom. Mr Assange's freedom is our freedom.'

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