Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the U.S. government have struck a deal to end his decade-plus legal odyssey and allow him to return to his home country of Australia this week after pleading guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to disseminate classified information.
Under the pact detailed in court filings made public Monday evening, Assange would be sentenced to just over five years in prison, but would be entitled to immediate release because that’s roughly the amount of time he’s been jailed in England while fighting extradition to the U.S.
Adding another exotic twist to an already byzantine tale, Assange’s guilty plea to the Espionage Act charge is set to take place Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court in the Northern Mariana Islands — a U.S. territory in the south Pacific about 2,000 miles north of Australia.
The unusual venue appears to reflect Assange’s unwillingness to voluntarily return to the continental U.S., along with his deep distrust of the U.S. government. Assange and his allies have repeatedly accused U.S. officials of plotting to have him killed with a drone.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, cuts plea deal to avoid US prison
Source: Viral Showbiz Pinay
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