WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to be released after appearing in court in the US territory of Saipan.
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks landed in Saipan ahead of his scheduled court appearance in which he is expected to plead guilty to a espionage charge as part of a deal with the United States Department of Justice that will see him free to return to his native Australia.
Assange, 52, is scheduled to appear Wednesday morning in U.S. federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. Commonwealth territory in the Western Pacific.
“Julian Assange arrived on US territory, on the island of Saipan, to formalize a plea deal that should never have happened,” WikiLeaks said on X.
Saipan was chosen to appear in court because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to the U.S. mainland as well as its proximity to his home in Australia, prosecutors said.
As part of the agreement, Assange will plead guilty to a single criminal charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
NOW: Julian Assange has arrived on US soil on the island of Saipan to formalize the plea deal that should never have happened. #AssangeJet pic.twitter.com/Q0Lqaaeye8
-WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2024
Assange must be sentenced to 62 months of the sentence already served in prison in the United Kingdom at his hearing, scheduled for Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. local time (11:00 p.m. GMT Tuesday).
Al Jazeera’s Sarah Clarke, speaking from Brisbane, Australia, said Assange’s highly anticipated court appearance in Saipan, about 3,000 km (1,865 miles) from Australia, is the closest he has ever come to country of origin for over a decade. .
“He is about to admit to violating US espionage laws, which was obviously part of his plea deal. We expect him to be sentenced to 62 months, but it is unlikely he will serve this term due to the time he has already spent in a British prison,” Clarke said.
“The details of this plea agreement will be better known once the Saipan judge of this court signs this agreement,” she said.
“We expect him to land in Australia, in Canberra the capital, this evening. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has long said that this saga has gone on too long… and that it is time for Assange to come home and that journey begins today,” she added.
Assange’s court appearance and expected release represent the latest chapter in a more than decade-long legal odyssey over the fate of the computer expert, whom the hugely popular secrets-sharing site WikiLeaks made him a cause celebre among press freedom advocates who said he had taken action. as a journalist to expose wrongdoing by the US military.
Australian-born Assange spent more than five years in a high-security prison in the UK and seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as he battled sex crime charges in Sweden and fought his extradition to the United States, where he faced 18 criminal charges.
Assange’s supporters view him as a victim because he denounced US military crimes in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Washington said publishing secret documents put lives at risk.
Australian governments have advocated for Assange’s release and have repeatedly raised the issue with the United States.
