Assange Released From Prison After Agreeing To Plead Guilty To Espionage Act Violation

Wikileaks reports that its founder, Julian Assange, was released from UK prison on bail and is in the process of returning to Australia. Court documents filed by the US Justice Department indicate that he has accepted an agreement with Washington that will see the journalist enter a guilty plea to crimes under the Espionage Act.

Wikileaks published the following statement on X:

“Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stanstead airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK. 

This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organizers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum,  all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalized. We will provide more information as soon as possible. 

After more than five years in a 2×3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife, Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars.”

Court documents dated Tuesday that were filed in the district of the Northern Mariana Islands show Assange, in exchange for his freedom, will plead guilty to crimes that violated the Espionage Act.