Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has reportedly left the UK after a deal was struck with US authorities. He has faced a lengthy legal battle over the past few years resulting from conspiracy charges for obtaining and distributing national defence information that were filed against him by the US government. Wikileaks facilitated the disclosure of classified information pertaining to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to the public with potentially harmful consequences for intelligence sources and operations. Assange remained in a British prison for the past five years fighting extradition to the US.
CBS reports that Assange will not serve any time in custody after pleading guilty to the charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, and credit will be given for the time spent incarcerated in the UK. Following the deal, Assange will return to his home country, Australia. Wikileaks stated on social media platform, X, that Assange was released from Belmarsh prison earlier on Tuesday after serving 1,901 days in a small cell. A video subsequently circulated on social media, appearing to show Assange dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, before getting in a car and being driven to Stanstead, where he boarded a plane to leave the UK.
The deal will be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands, closer to Australia than mainland US Federal courts, on 26 June. The Australian government has welcomed this outcome, stating that the case had “dragged on for too long.” Assange and his defence team have argued throughout that the charges are politically motivated. In April, US President Joe Biden hinted at Australia’s request to drop the prosecution against Assange, and the following month, the UK High Court permitted Assange to bring a new appeal against extradition to the US.
The case comes more than a decade after Wikileaks leaked more than 10 million classified documents in what has been described as “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.” In 2010, the website published a video that showed over a dozen Iraqi civilians being killed. While Assange has faced numerous legal battles in Sweden and the United Kingdom, protected supporters rallied in his defence
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More