Julian Assange to Plead Guilty in US Espionage Case

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, is expected to plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act. This development follows a plea deal disclosed in court filings. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at the US District Court in Saipan, part of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Assange, 52, will be sentenced immediately after his plea. Having served 62 months in a UK prison, he is not expected to face additional jail time. The Saipan court was chosen due to Assange’s reluctance to proceed within the continental US and its proximity to his home country, Australia.

The charges stem from WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of classified US military and diplomatic documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. Assange was initially arrested in the UK in 2010 on a warrant from Sweden for unrelated allegations. He sought asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012, remaining there until his arrest in 2019 when Ecuador revoked his asylum.

This plea deal resolves a protracted legal battle involving multiple countries and significant debate over press freedoms and government transparency.