The founder of WikiLeaks has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge that relates to his alleged role in one of the biggest US department breaches of classified material. This is a part of a deal with the Justice Department and this would enable him to evade a prison sentence according to the latest federal court documents.
Assange is set to appear in federal court in the Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific, to enter a guilty plea on an Espionage Act charge. The Justice Department disclosed this information in a letter submitted to the court.
In accordance with the new agreement, prosecutors from the Justice Department are proposing a 62-month sentence, matching the duration Julian Assange spent in a high-security prison in London during his extradition battle to the US. The plea bargain would recognize this time served, paving the way for Assange’s prompt return to Australia, his homeland. However, final approval of the plea deal rests with a federal judge.
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Assange has faced up to 18 charges from the 2019 case related to the federal breach, which added up to a total of 175 years of imprisonment, although it was unlikely that he would have been tried with full extent of the sentence. Assange has been under the scanner of US authorities for publishing military records classified as confidential, which were supplied by former Army Intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011.
US officials claimed that Assange encouraged Manning to acquire thousands of unfiltered US diplomatic cables, which put confidential sources at risk, included significant Iraq war activity reports, and contained Guantanamo Bay detainee information.
In a recent development, President Biden has alluded to a possible deal put forward by the Australian Government to return Assagne back to Australia. According to sources briefed on the matter, FBI and Justice Department officials have objected to any agreement that did not involve Assange pleading guilty to a felony.
A UK court had observed last month that Assange had the right to appeal his final challenge against extradition to the US, granting him a victory in his lengthy battle to evade prosecution in the United States for his alleged offences.
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