Assange Leaves UK's Belmarsh Prison to Finalize Plea Deal with US
The Australian-born activist is expected to strike a deal with the US Department of Justice, court documents say...
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was released from UK prison yesterday morning, according to his team. He had been incarcerated for five years at Belmarsh Prison in London, contesting extradition to the US, where he faced 18 charges of leaking classified information.
New court documents indicate that Assange is expected to enter a plea deal to avoid further imprisonment.
"Julian Assange is free. He departed from Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of June 24, after 1901 days," stated WikiLeaks on X (formerly Twitter). "Following his bail approval by the High Court in London, he was released and left the UK from Stansted airport in the afternoon."
WikiLeaks credits the global campaign for Assange's release with enabling "extended negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to an as-yet-unfinalized agreement."
"We express our gratitude to everyone who supported us, fought for us, and stayed dedicated to securing his freedom as he heads back to Australia," WikiLeaks conveyed.
A DOJ letter reveals Assange is scheduled for a court appearance in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific, at 9 am local time on Wednesday. The letter anticipates Assange's guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to illegally acquire and share classified US national defense information.
The DOJ anticipates Assange's return to Australia post-proceedings.
Read more: Assange secures significant victory in US extradition case.
Under Assange's direction, WikiLeaks released numerous classified records, including those pertaining to the US conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with a collection of US diplomatic communications. In 2010, the platform disclosed footage of a US military helicopter engaging civilians in Baghdad in 2007, mistaking them for insurgents.
In 2012, the WikiLeaks co-founder hosted ‘The World Tomorrow’ on RT. Over 12 episodes, the program covered a number of hotly debated topics, featuring guests such as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, former Guantanamo Bay inmate Moazzam Begg, and former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
What does this mean going forward? With the state of our US government and the underhanded politics being performed almost daily, I would still be in fear of what the US might do when getting him to US territory? Am I wrong?
I pray for a true leader to rise out of the ashes of what’s left of the West.