Julian Assange is heading to court on the Pacific island of Saipan where he is expected to plead guilty to a criminal charge on Wednesday. A guilty plea would allow him to return to Australia free after 14 years of legal battles.
Where is Saipan?
Saipan is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), a US commonwealth in the western Pacific that begins about 70 kilometres (44 mi) north of Guam and extends to 14 islands.
Like territories such as Guam or Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands are part of the US but do not have full statehood. Residents are US citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections. Importantly, some islands such as Saipan also host US district courts.
Assange will appear in court at 9am local time on Wednesday (2300 GMT on Tuesday).
Why is Assange going there?
US prosecutors said Assange wanted to go to a court closer to his home in Australia, but not in the United States.
Saipan has the advantage of being relatively close to Assange’s home in Australia, which is about 3,000 km (1,800 miles) south. Hawaii is twice that far.
“He will have to face the charges that are brought under US law,” said Emily Crawford, a professor at the University of Sydney’s law school.
“It should have been a U.S. territory, but it should have been the closest U.S. territory to Australia, not a U.S. state like Hawaii.”
Saipan and the United States
After being briefly colonized by Spain, Germany, and then Japan, the United States took control of the island in World War II following the Battle of Saipan in 1944.
After decades of American control, in 1975 residents voted to join the United States as a territory.
The Northern Mariana Islands elected a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 2008, but the delegate has no vote in Congress.
what happens next
US prosecutors said Assange has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defense documents. He will be sentenced to 62 months in prison, which he has already served. US prosecutors said if the judge accepts his plea, Assange is expected to return to Australia after the hearing.
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