Julian Assange Released from Belmarsh, Flies to Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific for Plea Deal
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh Prison and flown out of the UK as he prepares to enter a guilty plea as part of a deal with the US Justice Department. This agreement could potentially end his long-running legal saga that has spanned multiple continents.
Assange boarded a flight from Stansted Airport at 5 pm UK time on Monday, heading to the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific. He is set to appear in federal court there on Wednesday to plead guilty to charges under the Espionage Act for conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information.
The charges stem from one of the largest leaks of classified information in US history. Assange is accused of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, a military intelligence analyst, to release tens of thousands of classified documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, US diplomatic cables, and information on Guantanamo Bay detainees between 2009 and 2011. This information was published on WikiLeaks, Assange's website.
Under the new deal, Assange will avoid further imprisonment in the US. Prosecutors will seek a 62-month sentence, which he has already served in Belmarsh while fighting extradition. Last month, Assange won the right to appeal the extradition order after his lawyers argued the US did not provide adequate assurances of his free speech protections if extradited.
WikiLeaks announced on social media that Assange left Belmarsh on Wednesday after 1,901 days and departed from Stansted Airport. Their statement credited a global campaign involving grassroots organizers, press freedom advocates, legislators, and leaders across the political spectrum for creating the space for negotiations with the US Department of Justice. Assange is expected to reunite with his wife Stella and their children soon.
Before his time in Belmarsh, Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for a rape investigation. He was arrested in 2019 after Ecuador withdrew his asylum status and was jailed for skipping bail. Sweden later dropped the investigation due to the elapsed time.
Assange's health has reportedly suffered during his prolonged legal battles. If the plea deal is approved by a federal judge, he will be credited for time served and allowed to return to Australia.
Assange is celebrated by many as a hero for exposing military misconduct, including the release of a 2007 video showing an Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists. However, his reputation has been marred by the rape allegations, which he denies.
The plea agreement follows a request from Australia to drop the US prosecution push, which President Joe Biden considered. Chelsea Manning, convicted of leaking documents to WikiLeaks, had her 35-year sentence commuted by President Obama in 2017 after serving seven years.
This plea deal, if finalized, could mark the end of Julian Assange's contentious and highly publicized legal journey.
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