WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange has finally been released from the UK’s Belmarsh Prison a decade after he began his legal struggle. He has entered into a plea agreement to mitigate the matter with the US Department of Justice in which he will plead guilty to the felony charge under the US Espionage Act. The offence is for “Conspiring to obtain and disclose information held under security vetting for the defense of the United States of America” and has a provided prison term of 62 months. However, the time already spent in UK custody will be included in the sentence hence he will not be serving his prison time.
So Assange has gotten on a flight to Australia and will be pleading guilty at 9 am Wednesday. The formal hearing will happen in the US District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, where the island territory’s capital – Saipan is located.
This was evident when Assange decided to have the formal hearing in the Northern Mariana Islands; he avoided the continental US and does not trust the US. In particular, in 2010 the artist was detained in Sweden for the alleged sexual assault although the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. He then went into the Ecuadorian embassy for seven years to escape being handed over to the U.S. Subsequently, Ecuador in 2019 withdrew his asylum, and Julian Assange was to be put to trial in a UK court for extradition to the United States. He has spent 1901 days in jail and the WikiLeaks’ founder is now heading towards Australia to see his family.
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