Assange To Be Freed Following Plea Deal - He is Now En Route to Saipan
Julian Assange has been released from a British prison and is expected to plead guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that would allow him to return home to his native Australia.
Assange, 52, agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US district court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
Wikileaks posted on social media a video of its founder boarding a flight at London's Stansted airport on Monday evening and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he had left the UK.
The release from a UK prison of Julian Assange is a victory for him and his many supporters around the world, but not necessarily a clear win for the principle underlying his defence, the freedom of the press.
The charges Assange is anticipated to plead guilty to as part of a US deal, and for which he will be sentenced to time served, are drawn from the 1917 Espionage Act, for "conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information related to the national defense of the United States".
So although the WikiLeaks founder is expected to walk free from the US district court in Saipan after Wednesday's hearing, the Espionage Act will still hang over the heads of journalists reporting on national security issues, not just in the US. Assange himself is an Australian, not a US citizen.
Live: Father of Julian Assange hints at son's return to Australia after prison release - ABC News:
Nothing is certain until it happens and there's a lot we still don't know about how Julian Assange's case will proceed.
A lot of our understanding at this stage is coming from the court documents, which state that he'll appear before a judge in Saipan at 9am local time tomorrow.
An email from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the judge in the Northern Mariana Islands states that Assange is expected to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, and that he'll be sentenced for that offence.
American media outlets are reporting that the plea deal would need to be approved by the judge, and WikiLeaks has described the agreement as having "not yet been formally finalised."
But Assange's departure from the UK is a massive development in the case, and the court document says the DOJ expects he'll return to Australia "at the conclusion of the proceedings".
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