Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has accepted a plea deal offered by the Biden administration, according to new documents from the Justice Department.
As part of the deal, the U.S. will seek a 62-month prison sentence for Assange. As Assange has spent that amount of time incarcerated in Great Britain and the plea deal would include that as time served, it could potentially allow Assange to immediately be freed and return to his native Australia. Recently, the British government failed in its attempt to extradite Assange to the U.S. when London’s High court ruled that Assange can appeal his extradition.
Assange has been under indictment since 2019 for allegedly persuading Bradley “Chelsea” Manning into providing classified information to WikiLeaks on subjects such as the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay, and information related to confidential sources. The U.S.has been attempting to try to prosecute Assange under the Espionage Act of 1917, which was infamously used by the Wilson administration to crush public dissent. The act precludes public interest as a defense.
According to CNN, the FBI and DOJ will not accept any plea deal from Assange other than a guilty one.
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