WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge as part of a deal with the US Justice Department, which will allow him to be released and end a prolonged legal battle, Associated Press reports.
Assange, who recently left a British prison, will appear in a US federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands to plead guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information. This plea agreement must be approved by a judge. Assange is expected to be sentenced to the time he has already served in a British prison and will return to Australia after his plea.
The case, which has been controversial and seen as a significant issue of press freedom, revolved around WikiLeaks’ publication of classified documents. The US government has pursued Assange for years, arguing that his actions endangered national security, while supporters view him as a journalist who exposed US military misconduct. Assange’s legal saga included years of asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and subsequent imprisonment in the UK.
