WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal to avoid being extradited to the U.S. to face spying charges.
Court documents show the Australian, who has been held in a London prison since 2019, will plead guilty to one charge of accessing classified material.
Assange is due to appear in court in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands – about 2,000km west of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean – where a judge will consider his plea.
If approved, Assange will be able to return to Australia.
Background
Julian Assange was born in Queensland in 1971. He worked as a computer programmer before setting up the website ‘WikiLeaks’ in 2006.
WikiLeaks was designed to share censored materials involving “war, spying and corruption” with the public. It claims to have published more than 10 million documents.
It was launched during the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
WikiLeaks
In 2010, WikiLeaks posted thousands of secret documents relating to the U.S.’ wars in the Middle East.
The leaks included claims U.S. armed forces were responsible for an estimated 15,000 unreported civilian deaths. The documents also revealed secret diplomatic dealings between the U.S. Government and foreign leaders.
Former U.S. Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning was found responsible for handing the information to WikiLeaks. Manning served jail time over her role in these leaks.
UK arrests
In 2012, Ecuador’s embassy in the UK provided Assange with political asylum (protection).
While he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy, the U.S. started forming a legal case against Assange, alleging his actions threatened its national security.
Ecuador’s embassy removed Assange’s protection in April 2019. London police arrested Assange as soon as he stepped out of the embassy. He’s been detained in a UK high-security prison ever since.
Extradition
Since it announced charges against Assange, the U.S. has requested UK authorities facilitate his extradition — meaning he would be forcibly deported from the UK to the U.S. to face trial. He faced a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Assange repeatedly appealed decisions to extradite him to the U.S. His final option to appeal was allowed to proceed by a UK court last month.
Plea deal
Documents filed in a U.S. court on Monday (local time) show Assange has reached a plea deal with authorities.
The charge he is expected to plead guilty to is one count of “conspiring to obtain and disclose information related to the national defense”, which is in exchange for his release from a UK prison.
The single charge takes the place of all previous charges laid by the U.S. Department of Justice against Assange.
Upon his release from prison, Assange would be free to return to Australia.
