Photo: Alamy
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange agreed to a plea deal from the Biden Administration on Monday, allowing him to leave the British prison he had been held in for nearly five years.
Following a court filing from the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, the 52-year-old plead guilty to a conspiracy charge involving the violation of the U.S. Espionage law after obtaining and publishing national defense documents, according to Reuters.
Upon his agreement, Assange was seen leaving the Belmarsh maximum security prison in London, where he spent a total of 1901 days in a legal battle not to be extradited to the United States.
“This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations,” WikiLeaks posted to X (formerly known as Twitter).
“This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised. We will provide more information as soon as possible,” they continued.
Assange was indicted with over a dozen charges in 2019 by a Virginia federal grand jury over allegations that he illegally obtained and published classified information involving the U.S. war within the Middle East, according to CBS News. During his case, the U.S. claimed the use of the information potentially endangered confidential sources within the war zones, pushing both the FBI and Justice Department not to seek a deal without a federal charge, CNN reported.
“This was an independent decision made by the Department of Justice and there was no White House involvement in the plea deal decision,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement according to NBC News.
As Assange is waiting to be reunited with his native country, Australia, the deal must be approved by a federal judge. The founder was spotted Tuesday avoiding a landing on the U.S. homeland and instead arriving on a remote U.S. island where he is scheduled to finalize the legal matter on Wednesday, CBS News reported.
