WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from prison after reaching a plea deal with U.S. authorities, following a legal battle lasting years.
Assange, who gained international notoriety for publishing classified military and diplomatic documents through WikiLeaks, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, according to papers filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands on Tuesday, seen by Newsweek.
Assange is expected to be sentenced to the five years he has already spent in the British prison while fighting extradition to the U.S., according to The Associated Press.
U.S. authorities had initially indicted him on 18 espionage charges in 2019. All but one of those charges had a maximum penalty of 10 years.
His wife, Stella Assange, told BBC Radio that her husband will plead guilty to one charge "concerning the Espionage Act and obtaining and disclosing National Defense information."
She confirmed that Assange was on his way to the American island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, where he will be sentenced at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
She explained that "there is an agreement in principle between Julian and the Department of Justice and that has to be signed off by a judge" and that it involves "time served."
Assange has already served 62 months in high security Belmarsh Prison, southeast London, and that is 2 months longer than his expected sentence.
"He will be a free man once it is signed off by a judge," Stella Assange told the BBC, adding that she was "elated."
It is expected that Assange will return to his native Australia once he is freed. His wife told the BBC that she and his two young children are waiting for him in Sydney.
The court proceedings are taking place in the Northern Mariana Islands, around 100 miles north of Guam on the western edge of the Pacific, because Assange did not want to travel to the U.S. mainland, and because the court is closer to Australia.
Newsweek has reached out to Assange's attorneys and the attorney representing the U.S. Department of Justice via email, outside of regular working hours.
A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment beyond the court filings.
WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson reacted to the news in a statement to PA Media.
"This is the result of a long, long process which has been going on for some time. It has been a tough battle, but the focus now is on Julian being reunited with his family," he said.
"The most important thing is that Julian is free and he is finally able to enjoy the big blue sky. Details of what will happen now will come out in the next 24 hours. His family will be waiting for him in Australia."
Assange's journey to freedom has been long and convoluted.
WikiLeaks' publication of classified U.S. documents, including some relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, sparked a global debate about press freedom.
Supporters argued that Assange had exposed military wrongdoing that the public had a right to know. However, U.S. authorities have long maintained that the leaks endangered lives and that publishing the classified information was a crime.
In 2010 Swedish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Assange on sexual assault allegations, which he denied.
Trying to avoid extradition, Assange took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in 2012, where he remained for seven years until the country revoked his asylum status.
British police entered the embassy in 2019 and arrested Assange for violating bail. This opened the door for U.S. authorities to request his extradition, which had previously been blocked by the courts.
The same year, Sweden dropped their investigation due to lack of evidence. Assange continued to fight extradition to the U.S. from prison in the U.K.
Update 6/25/24, 11:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated to note that the DOJ declined t to comment.
