Influencer Editorial Team
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has left the UK after being released from prison following a plea deal with US authorities. The former US Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, stated that Assange has “paid his dues” for his actions.
Court documents from the US Justice Department reveal that Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge related to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information. In exchange for this plea, the US Justice Department has agreed to drop 18 other espionage charges against him, charging him solely with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information.
Under the terms of the deal, Assange will be sentenced to 62 months in prison, with the five years he has already spent in HMP Belmarsh counting toward this sentence. Clapper, who held his intelligence role when Assange leaked documents in 2010, told CNN, “I actually think this came out pretty well… critical to this was his plea of one count of espionage. The law enforcement and intelligence community would not have bought into this without that. He’s paid his dues.”
Assange is set to return to Australia after his plea and sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning local time in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific. This follows WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
A court order issued on Tuesday by Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr. Justice Johnson confirmed that Assange had left the jurisdiction of England and Wales at 6:36 pm on Monday, after a plea agreement was signed on June 19. The order stated, “It is anticipated that a plea will be entered and accepted on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, after which the United States has undertaken to withdraw the extradition request.”
The judges also noted that lawyers for both Assange and the US authorities need to provide an agreed document related to the pending extradition appeal proceedings by Friday afternoon.
Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s wife, indicated that her husband would “be a free man” once the plea deal is “signed off by a judge.” Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, she confirmed, “Yes, the charge concerns the Espionage Act, and obtaining and disclosing national defense information.” She emphasized the significance of the deal, which involves time served, allowing Assange to walk free. “He will be a free man once it has been signed off by a judge and that will happen sometime tomorrow,” she added.
