Julian Assange Secures Release After Deal with U.S. Authorities

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, will be released after pleading guilty to a felony in an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. He is expected to return to Australia soon after. According to court documents filed on Monday, this plea deal concludes a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centered on the publication of classified documents, as reported by the Associated Press.

Assange is set to appear before the federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. Commonwealth in the western Pacific, on Wednesday to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act by conspiring to obtain and illegally disseminate classified national defense information, according to a letter from the Department of Justice. This declaration still needs to be approved by a judge but is expected to imminently end the U.S. government's years-long pursuit of an editor many press freedom advocates consider a journalist who exposed U.S. military crimes.

However, investigators maintain that his actions broke laws designed to protect sensitive information and endangered U.S. national security. Assange is expected to return to Australia following his plea and sentencing in Saipan, the largest island in the Marianas. The hearing will be held there due to Assange's opposition to traveling to the U.S. mainland and the court's proximity to Australia.

A plane carrying Assange departed from Bangkok on Tuesday after refueling, heading to Saipan for the plea agreement that will resolve the legal case over the publication of classified documents. The chartered flight from London, confirmed by his wife Stella Assange, took off from Don Mueang International Airport. WikiLeaks' official account on social media platform X announced that Assange was en route to Saipan for his court hearing.

British judicial authorities confirmed that Assange left the United Kingdom on Monday night after being granted bail in a secret hearing last week. Stella Assange expressed her elation to the BBC from Australia, following significant uncertainty over the past 72 hours about whether the deal would go through. The details of the agreement will be made public once ratified by a judge.

In a message on X, Stella mentioned that Assange would owe $520,000 to the Australian government for the chartered flight returning him to Australia and has requested donations to cover the cost. Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor of WikiLeaks, stated that the agreement resulted from the increasing involvement of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

"It has been a tough battle, but the focus now is on Julian being able to reunite with his family," said Hrafnsson. In a statement posted on X, WikiLeaks celebrated the announcement of the agreement and thanked everyone who supported Assange in his fight for freedom. Albanese told Parliament that an Australian envoy had flown with Assange from London. He also stated that "regardless of one's opinion on Mr. Assange's activities, the case has dragged on too long. His continued imprisonment serves no purpose, and we want him back in Australia."

The Cuban regime celebrated the news and considered that Assange had been subjected to a "long and cruel punishment imposed for his revelations."