Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, has been released from jail in the UK and is on his way back to Australia, via Saipan, after he agreed to a US plea deal.
According to Aljazeera ‘Assange, 52, will plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to a filing in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.’
‘He was freed from the UK’s high-security Belmarsh prison on Monday and taken to the airport where he flew out of the country. Assange will appear at a court in Saipan 9, a US Pacific territory at 9am on Wednesday (23:00 GMT on Tuesday) where he will be sentenced to 62 months of time already served.’
Assange left the maximum security Belmarsh jail after 1,901 days of incarceration and is expected to fly to Australia following his formal appearance in court in Saipan, near Guam.
‘Julian Assange is free,’ Wikileaks posted on X (formerly Twitter)
‘He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1,901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.
‘This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised.
‘As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.’
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