US authorities have agreed to drop their demand that Julian Assange be extradited from the UK after reaching a deal with the WikiLeaks founder.
In exchange for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, Assange He will be sentenced to time served, 62 months, the time he has already spent in a British prison, according to court documents.
Once a judge accepts the guilty plea, the 52-year-old will be able to return to Australia, his country of birth.
US prosecutors had alleged that Assange put lives at risk when he helped former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks put online in 2010.
He has been immersed in a legal battle in the United Kingdom over his extradition, which included his entry into the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 before his detention in Belmarsh prison, where he has been since May 2019.
Assange at the airport after leaving prison. Photo: WikiLeaks
‘Julian is free!’
In a post on X, WikiLeaks said Assange left Belmarsh on Monday morning after being granted bail by the High Court. In the afternoon he was at Stansted airport, where he boarded a plane and left the UK.
“After more than five years in a 2×3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon be reunited with his wife Stella Assange and his children, who have only known their father behind bars,” the company said.
Mrs Assange also took to social media and shared a video montage of her husband in a car and then boarding a plane.
She wrote: “Julián is free!!!!
“Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU, yes, YOU, who have mobilized for years and years to make this a reality. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.”
Assange’s guilty plea and sentencing are scheduled for Wednesday morning local time on Saipan, the largest island in the Mariana Islands.
The hearing is being held there because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to one of the 50 US states and the court’s proximity to Australia.
Assange’s friend Craig Murray told Sky News the news was “absolutely wonderful”.
He said: “The whole family is absolutely elated that we have finally managed to put an end to this terrible saga.”
Murray said the entire ordeal has been “very exhausting” for Assange and that his imprisonment has affected his physical and mental health.
He added: “We are lucky that he is a very resilient man and he will recover and we will get Julian back completely.”
More than a decade of fighting
Assange has been fighting extradition to the United States for more than a decade.
Who is Julian Assange?
In a January 2021 ruling, then-District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said he should not be sent to the United States, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide, although she ruled against him on all other issues.
Later that year, US authorities won a High Court appeal to overturn this block, paving the way for Assange’s extradition.
In June 2022, the UK government approved Assange’s extradition to the United States, and then-Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the extradition order.
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Back in February Earlier this year, he made a last-ditch attempt under UK law to avoid being sent to the United States.
In March, Dame Victoria Sharp and Judge Johnson dismissed most of Assange’s legal arguments but said that unless the United States gave guarantees, he could appeal on three grounds.
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These guarantees were that Assange would be protected and allowed to rely on the First Amendment – which protects freedom of expression in the United States -, that he would not be “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality and that the death penalty would not be imposed. .
Three months later, in May, two High Court judges ruled that it would be allowed to appeal against extradition, would not face the death penalty and that he could rely on the First Amendment if he faced trial for espionage.
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