WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange to Plead Guilty to Conspiracy Charge in Plea Deal with U.S. Justice Department
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge this week as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department, according to court documents. This deal will allow him to go free after spending five years in a British prison.
Assange, who has been charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, will appear in court on Wednesday to plead guilty. The Justice Department expects him to return to Australia, his home country, after the proceedings.
The charges against Assange stem from one of the largest publications of classified information in American history, which occurred during the first term of Barack Obama’s presidency. Assange allegedly conspired with Chelsea Manning, a military intelligence analyst, to disclose a vast amount of sensitive information using his WikiLeaks website.
Assange has been held in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in London for five years, following seven years of self-exile at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He was arrested in April 2019 after his asylum was withdrawn.
The WikiLeaks founder has been fighting extradition to the U.S. for over a decade. In March, the High Court in London granted him permission for a full hearing on his appeal, seeking assurances that he could rely on the First Amendment at a trial in the United States.
Assange’s WikiLeaks also published hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential race, which led to indictments of Russian intelligence officers. Former President Donald Trump controversially downplayed the Russian interference during a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chelsea Manning, who was involved in the conspiracy with Assange, was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison, but her sentence was commuted by Obama in 2017. She was later held in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions for a grand jury.
This is a developing story, so stay tuned for updates on Julian Assange’s plea deal and potential release.
