Agreement Reached with Julian Assange

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material. This agreement will result in his release from a British prison, putting an end to his prolonged standoff with the United States.

Release Details and Sentencing

As part of the agreement, Assange is expected to be sentenced to about five years, which is equivalent to the time he has already served in Britain. The plea deal allows Assange to appear before a federal judge in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly after the deal was disclosed, WikiLeaks confirmed that Assange had left London. He is scheduled to appear in Saipan and is expected to return to Australia at the conclusion of the proceedings.

Assange’s legal battle began after he gained notoriety for releasing state secrets, including information about American military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks also published confidential cables shared among diplomats and released emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 campaign.