Sydney, After years of appeals and litigation, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the US government, according to court documents.
He was facing one count of computer misuse and multiple counts of espionage stemming from his work with WikiLeaks, publishing confidential US government documents provided by Chelsea Manning. The US government had repeatedly claimed that Assange's actions put his national security at risk.
Documents filed in the US Federal Court in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, show that Assange will plead guilty to a charge under the US Espionage Act. The rest of the charges would be dropped and the request for extradition to the United States would be withdrawn. The United States has not yet publicly confirmed the agreement.
The deal is subject to a hearing and sentencing in Saipan on Wednesday morning, where media reports Assange will appear in person. He has been released from Belmarsh Prison in London, and WikiLeaks shares a glimpse of him en route to London Stanstead Airport.
The UK High Court granted Assange bail.
Following his guilty plea, Assange will be sentenced to 62 months in prison – time he already served in Belmarsh. He ends all ongoing legal action, including proceedings before the UK High Court and the UK Home Secretary's extradition order.
The plea deal appears largely consistent with rumors that circulated earlier this year. Assange was widely assumed to plead guilty to one charge, which was expected to be a misdemeanor mishandling of documents rather than a charge under the US Espionage Act. Initial rumors also indicated that he could complete the process remotely, while he will appear in court in person.
This is significant as it is a national security crime for which he has served more than five years behind bars. This will impose limitations on his future travel, including to the United States, where he is unlikely to grant her a visa.
He also sets a practical, though not necessarily legal, precedent that a publisher can be convicted under the United States Espionage Act. While the devil will be in the details of the deal, this is what many journalists feared.
It means that someone who did nothing more than receive and publish information has been convicted under major US national security laws. If the agreement had been over the Computer Misuse Act, this scenario would not have arisen. The concern may be that now that it's been done once, it could happen again.
We may never know America's full reasoning, but there are several possibilities as to why it decided to take a plea deal and not continue litigation.
The Australian government has been pushing hard for a couple of years to get this case over with. The case to stop prosecution has had bipartisan support here.
Although he has not yet confirmed or denied the existence of a plea deal, a government spokesperson reiterated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's position that “there was nothing to gain from his [Assange's] continued imprisonment.”
The fact that the government has been consistent on this for about two years has changed the political environment for this prosecution.
There is a growing consensus in the United States, even among some Republicans, that continuing is not in the public interest.
The UK general election is due to take place next week and, given the planned change of government there, the extradition order may have been reconsidered anyway. All of this would likely have informed America's cost-benefit analysis of ultimately ending the Assange saga.
What happens now?
After the hearing in Saipan, Assange will be able to return to Australia. The court was chosen because of Assange's opposition to traveling to the continental United States, as well as his proximity to Australia.
Assange is likely to find it difficult to travel in the future, given his serious criminal conviction. This may also apply in the United Kingdom, where he was also found guilty of bail jumping, for which he was sentenced to one year in prison.
Looking ahead, it is entirely possible that he will be pardoned by the US president, whoever he may be, after the US elections in November. The United States allows much more discretion than most in the use of pardons.
For now, Assange will face court in Saipan and return to Australia, albeit with a serious criminal record. (The conversation)
RUP
He was facing one count of computer misuse and multiple counts of espionage stemming from his work with WikiLeaks, publishing confidential US government documents provided by Chelsea Manning. The US government had repeatedly claimed that Assange's actions put his national security at risk.
Documents filed in the US Federal Court in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, show that Assange will plead guilty to a charge under the US Espionage Act. The rest of the charges would be dropped and the request for extradition to the United States would be withdrawn. The United States has not yet publicly confirmed the agreement.
The deal is subject to a hearing and sentencing in Saipan on Wednesday morning, where media reports Assange will appear in person. He has been released from Belmarsh Prison in London, and WikiLeaks shares a glimpse of him en route to London Stanstead Airport.
The UK High Court granted Assange bail.
Following his guilty plea, Assange will be sentenced to 62 months in prison – time he already served in Belmarsh. He ends all ongoing legal action, including proceedings before the UK High Court and the UK Home Secretary's extradition order.
The plea deal appears largely consistent with rumors that circulated earlier this year. Assange was widely assumed to plead guilty to one charge, which was expected to be a misdemeanor mishandling of documents rather than a charge under the US Espionage Act. Initial rumors also indicated that he could complete the process remotely, while he will appear in court in person.
This is significant as it is a national security crime for which he has served more than five years behind bars. This will impose limitations on his future travel, including to the United States, where he is unlikely to grant her a visa.
He also sets a practical, though not necessarily legal, precedent that a publisher can be convicted under the United States Espionage Act. While the devil will be in the details of the deal, this is what many journalists feared.
It means that someone who did nothing more than receive and publish information has been convicted under major US national security laws. If the agreement had been over the Computer Misuse Act, this scenario would not have arisen. The concern may be that now that it's been done once, it could happen again.
We may never know America's full reasoning, but there are several possibilities as to why it decided to take a plea deal and not continue litigation.
The Australian government has been pushing hard for a couple of years to get this case over with. The case to stop prosecution has had bipartisan support here.
Although he has not yet confirmed or denied the existence of a plea deal, a government spokesperson reiterated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's position that “there was nothing to gain from his [Assange's] continued imprisonment.”
The fact that the government has been consistent on this for about two years has changed the political environment for this prosecution.
There is a growing consensus in the United States, even among some Republicans, that continuing is not in the public interest.
The UK general election is due to take place next week and, given the planned change of government there, the extradition order may have been reconsidered anyway. All of this would likely have informed America's cost-benefit analysis of ultimately ending the Assange saga.
What happens now?
After the hearing in Saipan, Assange will be able to return to Australia. The court was chosen because of Assange's opposition to traveling to the continental United States, as well as his proximity to Australia.
Assange is likely to find it difficult to travel in the future, given his serious criminal conviction. This may also apply in the United Kingdom, where he was also found guilty of bail jumping, for which he was sentenced to one year in prison.
Looking ahead, it is entirely possible that he will be pardoned by the US president, whoever he may be, after the US elections in November. The United States allows much more discretion than most in the use of pardons.
For now, Assange will face court in Saipan and return to Australia, albeit with a serious criminal record. (The conversation)
RUP
