WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defense documents, as part of a deal with the Biden administration. The deal is expected to end Assange’s legal battle that spanned nearly 15 years.
The case against Assange
The case against Assange began with WikiLeaks’ publication of sensitive US military documents, war logs and diplomatic cables between 2010 and 2011. These revelations, including footage of US airstrikes in Baghdad, were one of the biggest breaches of state secrets in US history. Assange was accused of conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain classified material.
Chelsea Manning, who leaked the documents, was convicted in 2013 but her 35-year prison sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017.
The US criminally charged Assange in 2019 for violating the Espionage Act under the Trump administration and has been trying to extradite him from the UK, where he has been in prison since then. The initial charges – 17 related to espionage and one to computer misuse – carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts.
plea deal
Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to violating US espionage laws. Under the deal, he will be sentenced to 62 months, which is the same as the time he has already served in UK prisons. The sentence will be pronounced at a hearing in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday.
He will return to his home in Australia after serving his sentence.
Global campaigns and support
During his ordeal, Assange became a hero to freedom of expression campaigners around the world, and a villain to those who thought he had endangered US national security and intelligence sources by revealing secrets.
He has spent more than a decade in custody or in hiding in Ecuador’s London embassy as he tries to avoid extradition. Assange has been held in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison for the past five years.
According to WikiLeaks, Assange’s plea and his immediate return to Australia are the result of a global campaign involving grassroots organisers, press freedom advocates, legislators and politicians from a variety of political backgrounds. This support extends to international bodies such as the United Nations.