Julian Assange released from custody in deal with the US: Will return to Australia after sentencing

(Patria) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act this week as part of a deal that will allow him to return home to Australia.

According to British media, Assange has already left Belmarsh Prison in the UK, where he spent the last five years, and traveled by private jet to the city of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Assange (52) has agreed, as part of an agreement reached with the United States (US), to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified US national defense information, according to filings in the US District Court.

Assange is expected to be sentenced to 62 months in prison, time already served, at a hearing in Saipan, a US unincorporated territory, at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, and is expected to return to Australia after the hearing.

Assange was facing extradition to the US on charges of espionage.

The co-founder of WikiLeaks faced 17 espionage charges, which could have resulted in up to 175 years in prison.

Assange, an Australian citizen, was in custody in the UK, where authorities approved his extradition to the US last year. He was wanted for his alleged role in espionage and the dissemination of secret US military information.

He was held in custody for approximately four years at Belmarsh Prison after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he initially sought diplomatic asylum from Swedish authorities.

In a key ruling in 2021, the High Court of the United Kingdom decided that Assange should be extradited, rejecting claims of his impaired mental state and the risks he might face in a US correctional facility.

Following an appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed the decision in 2022, while then-Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed the extradition order, intensifying the legal battle.

In a ruling by the High Court of the United Kingdom in March of this year, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted the right to appeal his extradition to the US.