Wikileaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a felony charge under the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military information, after reaching a plea deal with Justice Department officials to secure his freedom and finally put an end to the years-long legal saga.
The plea deal, released Monday night by the DOJ, requires Assange to admit guilt without requiring additional prison time. Part of the plea deal includes a five-year sentence that Assange has already served in a British prison while fighting to avoid extradition to the US.
Assange pleaded guilty in federal court in Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US community in the Pacific. The court is close to his native Australia, where he planned to return after the hearing.
Assange flew from Britain on a chartered plane with members of his legal team and Australian authorities. He did not answer questions as he entered the courtroom, The Washington Post reported.
Assange answered basic questions asked by a federal judge in court and appeared to listen intently as the terms of the plea deal were discussed, the Associated Press reported. Assange will be required to destroy information that was provided to WikiLeaks as part of his plea deal.
He was accused of helping US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files for WikiLeaks to publish.
The massive leak of confidential information sparked a national debate over whether Assange’s actions were heroic or harmful to the US. The documents shed light on what many saw as military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan, but prosecutors alleged Assange harmed the country’s national security and helped U.S. adversaries.
The Associated Press contributed.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
