Potential Return of Julian Assange to Australia Imminent
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is set to confess to breaching the US Espionage Act in a deal struck with the US Department of Justice. After admitting to espionage-related charges and receiving sentencing, Assange is expected to return to his native land, Australia. As per court documents from the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, the 52-year-old Australian Assange has agreed to acknowledge guilt in one charge of conspiring to procure anddisclose classified US defense documents.
Assange's sentencing hearing is scheduled on Saipan, with his time served in British prisons likely to be credited towards his sentence, potentially sparing him further imprisonment. At the time of writing, his legal representative has not issued any statements regarding the matter.
In 2010, WikiLeaks published a vast number of classified US military documents pertaining to Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as numerous diplomatic documents. Assange was accused of treason by the US for this action, whereas his supporters applaud him as a journalist who exposed alleged war crimes.
"That's enough!"
Assange was apprehended in the UK in 2010 on a Swedish arrest warrant due to accusations of sexual misconduct. The warrant was eventually dropped. Since then, Assange spent time under house arrest, resided in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, and has been held in the high-security Belmarsh Prison since 2019. During his time at Belmarsh, Assange married his partner Stella and fathered two children with her.
Recently, the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, urged for an end to Assange's imprisonment. "There's no point in further imprisonment," Albanese said at the end of May, demanding a halt to the pursuit of the Australian. "That's enough!" A British court previously authorized Assange to file another appeal against extradition to the US.
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The US Department of Justice has been involved in the processes surrounding Julian Assange's alleged breach of the Espionage Act. Upon admitting to espionage-related charges and receiving sentencing, Assange will proceed with his planned return to Australia.
Julian Assange's agreement to acknowledge guilt in a charge related to conspiring to procure and disclose classified US defense documents was detailed in court documents from the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
