WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to plead guilty in espionage act case in US court, will be freed from prison
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the US Justice Department, according to court documents filed on Monday night. This plea deal aims to resolve a protracted legal battle involving multiple countries over the release of classified information. Assange will plead guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information under the Espionage Act.
Court Appearance in the Mariana Islands
Assange will appear in the federal court located in the Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Western Pacific, to enter his plea. This location was chosen due to Assange's unwillingness to travel to the continental US and the court's proximity to Australia. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Saipan, the largest island in the Mariana Islands.
Want a Loan? Get cash against your Mutual Funds in 4 hoursImplications of the Plea Deal
The plea deal ensures Assange's release from prison and allows him to return to Australia. Assange has spent years in various forms of detention, including house arrest, seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and time in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in the UK. Stella Assange, his wife, stated, «Every day since the seventh of December 2010 he has been in one form of detention or another.»
Background and Legal Struggles
Assange's legal issues began in 2010 when he was arrested in Britain on a Swedish warrant over sex crime allegations, which were later dropped. WikiLeaks published
Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
