The founder of WikiLeaksJulian Assange, has agreed to plead guilty to a crime related to his role in one of the largest violations
of American classified materialas part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice that will allow him to avoid imprisonment to the United States and to return to Australia. CNN reports this, citing documents recently filed in federal court. The plea deal has yet to be made approved by a federal judge. «Assange is free» announced Wikileaks, which reports that the 52-year-old Australian has left Belmarsh prison Monday morningwas released by British justice this afternoon atStansted airport to London, from where he boarded a plane and has left the UK.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Justice Department prosecutors will ask a 62-month sentence, which is equivalent to the more than five years Assange served in a maximum security prison in London while fighting extradition to the United States. The plea agreement would recognize time already spent behind barsallowing Assange to return to Australia immediately, his native country. The founder of Wikileaks is accused of 18 counts in a 2019 indictment for his alleged role in the dissemination of top secret papersa crime that carries a maximum of 175 years in prison, although it is highly unlikely that he would be sentenced to such a sentence.
Assange was being prosecuted by US authorities for having published classified military documents provided by the former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011. US officials said Assange pressured Manning into obtaining thousands of
pages of unfiltered US diplomatic cables that potentially
they endangered confidential sources, reports of significant activities related to gwar in Iraq and information relating to Guantanamo Bay detainees.
President Joe Biden has alluded to a in recent months possible agreement promoted by Australian government leaders to bring Assange back to Australia. FBI and Justice Department officials opposed any agreement that did not include a guilty plea on Assange’s part, people familiar with the matter told CNN. Last month, a UK court ruled that Assange had the right to appeal again against extradition to the USA, giving him a victory in his years-long fight to avoid prosecution in the United States for his parents alleged crimes.
