Julian Assange to Agree to Plea Deal with US, Return Free to Australia

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to accept a plea deal this week with the U.S. Justice Department that will allow him to return free to his home country of Australia.

The Details: Resistant to setting foot in the mainland U.S., Assange will agree to the deal at a U.S. federal court in the Mariana Islands, a commonwealth near Guam. Prosecutors are seeking a 62-month prison sentence, but plan to credit Assange with the 62 months he served in British prison.

For Context: In 2010, Assange was indicted on 18 charges connected to WikiLeaks’ publishing of hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. military and intelligence documents. From 2012 to 2019, he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years before his arrest. He has spent the last five years in a high-security British prison, where he has been fighting an extradition request from the U.S. In February, the Australian government called for the release and return of Assange.

Key Quotes: In a statement on X, WikiLeaks wrote, “This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.”

How The Media Covered It: The story has been widely covered and is still developing as of Tuesday morning. Many outlets are running live coverage of the story.