After WikiLeaks released 500,000 confidential files including military records and diplomatic cables in 2010, Julian Assange, the 52-year-old founder of WikiLeaks and an Australian citizen, was wanted by the United States on 18 charges. , among the charges faced, there are 17 violations of the Espionage Act.
Assange was arrested in the UK in 2010 on a European-wide arrest warrant issued by Sweden, which accused him of sexual assault. While on bail, Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK to seek political asylum and subsequently lived in the embassy. After nearly seven years of trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, it was not until April 2019 that British police entered the museum and arrested Assange.
Since then, Assange has been held in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison until now, and the United States has been seeking his extradition to stand trial on charges that could see him sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.
Assange reaches plea deal with US
However, the entire case has undergone a major change in recent days. According to previous reports in the District, Assange plans to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge this week and reach a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. According to court documents , this move will allow Assange to remain incarcerated. Released after 5 years.
U.S. Department of Justice official Matthew McKenzie said in a letter to Judge Ramona Manglona of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands that Assange will appear in court at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday (26th) to plead guilty to conspiring to obtain and leak U.S. defense secrets. The Justice Department expects Assange will return to Australia after the court proceedings are completed.
Court documents revealing Assange's plea agreement were filed late Monday in U.S. District Court on Saipan, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean, in the Northern Mariana Islands, where Assange is expected to appear and be sentenced to 62 years. Months in prison, taking into account time served in the UK (62 months), meaning he will be free to return to Australia, the country of his birth.
Judge: Released after serving sentence
According to foreign media reports , Assange appeared in court in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands on the morning of Wednesday (26th) local time, and formally signed a plea agreement in court, admitting that he was involved in one of the largest leaks of classified materials in U.S. military history. No. 1 China was suspected of illegally conspiring to obtain and disseminate confidential information. The plea agreement was approved by Judge Ramona Manglona.
According to the latest news from local reporters, the judge has told Assange:
I think the court is aware that Mr Assange has suffered serious consequences, including when we discuss his experience in Belmarsh, and we believe that further imprisonment is not necessary and that a sentence for time served is appropriate.
You will be able to walk out of court a free man.
According to the latest tweet from Assange’s wife Stella Assange, Assange walked out of the court as a free man, which also means that Assange no longer bears any sentence:
Julian walked out of the courthouse a free man. I can't stop crying.
JUSTICE rose 8.1% in the past 24 hours
Inspired by the news that Assange will be freed, the AssangeDAO governance token JUSTICE, which aims to rescue the founder of WikiLeaks, has risen 8.1% in the past 24 hours and is now trading at $0.0003979. In the past week, JUSTICE has risen by an astonishing 287.2%.
