Plea Deal and Release
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was released from a London prison on Monday after more than five years of incarceration. This release follows a plea deal with U.S. authorities that will prevent his extradition to the United States. Assange has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose U.S. national defense information.
Details of the Plea Deal
According to a Reuters report on June 24, U.S. prosecutors filed documents in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands outlining the agreement. Assange is expected to be sentenced to five years and three months, equivalent to the time he has already served in London’s Belmarsh Prison since April 2019.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 25 at 11 pm UTC, which is 9 am local time on the island of Saipan. Following the High Court’s decision to grant him bail, Assange boarded a flight from the U.K. on Monday, heading back to his native Australia, as reported by WikiLeaks.
Background and Charges
Assange’s legal troubles began in 2010 when WikiLeaks published over 700,000 classified U.S. documents and diplomatic cables related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These documents were leaked by former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. The publication of these documents drew significant attention and controversy.
In December 2010, PayPal cut off WikiLeaks’ account, prompting the organization to turn to Bitcoin for fundraising. This move brought Bitcoin into mainstream attention, with its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, expressing concern over the potential repercussions on the fledgling cryptocurrency.
In April 2019, under the administration of then-President Donald Trump, Assange was charged by the U.S. He had been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations, which were later dropped. British authorities removed Assange from the embassy that same month and placed him in Belmarsh Prison, where he has since fought against U.S. extradition.
Reaction and Impact
Assange’s supporters and press freedom advocates have long argued that the charges against him pose a threat to free speech, asserting that publishing information should not be considered a criminal act. His release and the plea deal have likely eased tensions among his supporters, although the broader implications for press freedom and whistleblowing remain contentious.
