WikiLeaks founder Assange returns to his home country

Julian Assange, the 52-year-old founder of WikiLeaks who exposed classified U.S. documents, has won his 14-year legal battle. Following his release from Belmarsh prison in the UK as part of a plea deal with the U.S. government, Assange appeared before a judge in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. The court ruled that Assange, who pleaded guilty to only one count of violating the U.S. Espionage Act, should be released, taking into account the time he had already served in prison in the UK.

EXTRADITION TO THE U.S. HAD BEEN ORDERED

The website WikiLeaks, founded by Assange, published documents in 2010 regarding crimes committed by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange, whom the U.S. accused of espionage and sought to extradite, took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012. After being removed from the embassy and detained in 2019, he was arrested and sent to prison for failing to meet bail conditions. While the UK High Court ruled in 2021 that Assange could be extradited to the U.S., his lawyers appealed the decision in 2022. Assange, who was wanted by the U.S. to stand trial on 18 charges, had been held in the high-security Belmarsh prison in the UK.

It had been stated that Assange, having reached an agreement with the U.S. government, would plead guilty to the single charge brought against him.