WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh prison in London, where he had been held for five years, to return to Australia and plead guilty to a single US crime, in what could mark the end of a years-long saga, which saw him hailed as an exemplar of press freedom and a threat to national security.
Who is Julian Assange?
Assange is born 1971 in Townsville, in the Australian state of Queensland. He became interested in computers at a young age and by the early 1990s was considered one of Australia’s most experienced hackers.
In 2006 he founded WikiLeaks , an organization that published classified material. He was alone In 2010 that Assange rose to global prominence after published a series of leaks with the help of Chelsea Manninga former US Army soldier reporting on the diplomatic relations between Washington and its allies and the violence committed by the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the files was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists. The US government launched a criminal investigation and Manning was ultimately convicted and imprisoned, although her sentence was later commuted.
In November 2010, WikiLeaks has published over 250,000 top secret US State Department cablesrevealing stories of corruption, diplomatic scandals and international espionage deals.
In the 2016Assange made headlines again after WikiLeaks published emails from Democratic Party workers ahead of the US presidential elections. US prosecutors said the emails were stolen by Russian intelligence and were part of an operation to interfere in the election on behalf of Donald Trump.
Assange has been hailed by many around the world as a hero who brought to light US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan, but his reputation has also been tarnished by rape allegations, which he denies.
Why was he in prison?
An arrest warrant for Assange was issued in 2010 on two separate sexual assault charges in Sweden. After a UK court ruled that he could be extradited to Sweden, Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy where he was granted political asylum. It was reported at the time that he feared that if he were extradited to Sweden, he might be extradited to the United States.
He remained there for nearly seven years, during which his relations with the Ecuadorian government became increasingly hostile. The country’s foreign minister in 2019 accused Assange of rude behavior, ranging from riding a skateboard and playing football inside the embassy to bullying and threatening staff at the diplomatic headquarters.
In 2017, Swedish authorities dropped charges against Assange, but his UK arrest warrant for bail jumping was still valid. In 2019, Ecuador withdrew his asylum and allowed British police to enter the embassy to arrest him.
Assange was then arrested on behalf of the United States which had requested his extradition. The United States wanted him to face 18 charges and if found guilty he would have faced a sentence of up to 175 years in prison.
Why was he released?
For the past five years, Assange has been locked up in a high-security prison in south London, where he was denied bail because he was deemed a flight risk. According to his family and supporters, during all this time his physical and mental health has been deteriorating.
In 2021, a UK court said Assange could be extradited to the US, but earlier this year he won the right to appeal that verdict.
In February, the Australian parliament passed a motion calling on the US and UK governments to allow Assange to return to his home country. Then, in April, US President Joe Biden said he was considering a request from Australia to drop the prosecution of Assange.
While it’s unclear why it was released now, Assange’s family – including his mother – said today that the end of his “ordeal” was due to “silent diplomacy”while his father thanked the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
What’s in the deal?
Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands, where he is expected to plead guilty to a charge under the Espionage Act of conspiracy to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information. It is expected that the extradition request will be dropped and Assange will not face any further charges.
The hearing will take place in the Northern Mariana Islands due to Assange’s opposition to traveling to the mainland United States and the court’s proximity to Australia.
Prosecutors have agreed to a five-year sentence, but said time already served in a British prison will count towards this sentence. This means that he will probably be free after the sentence.
The guilty plea still needs to be approved by a judge, but if so, he is expected to return to Australia following sentencing. John Shipton, Assange’s father, told Australian media today that it looks like “Julian will be able to enjoy a normal life with his family and his wife Stella.”
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