Source: Wikileaks: Julian Assange freed in US plea deal
After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free.
Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files – which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – endangered lives.
Assange spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US.
According to CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.
Assange will return to Australia, according to a letter from the justice department.
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Wikileaks said that Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday after 1,901 days in a small cell.
He was then “released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK” to return to Australia, the statement added.
经过长达数年的法律传奇，维基解密表示，创始人朱利安·阿桑奇在与美国当局达成协议后离开了英国，该协议使他承认刑事指控并获释。 52 岁的阿桑奇被指控串谋获取和泄露国防信息。 多年来，美国一直认为维基解密文件——披露了有关伊拉克和阿富汗战争的信息——危及生命。 阿桑奇过去五年在英国监狱里度过，他在那里反对引渡到美国。 据英国广播公司美国合作伙伴哥伦比亚广播公司报道，阿桑奇将不会在美国被监禁，而取而代之在英国已被监禁的时间。 根据司法部的一封信，阿桑奇将返回澳大利亚。 维基解密在 X（前身为 Twitter）平台上称，阿桑奇在小牢房里度过了 1,901 天后于周一离开了贝尔马什监狱。 声明补充说，随后他“下午在斯坦斯特德机场被释放，登上飞机离开英国”返回澳大利亚。
