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Julian Assange has arrived on the remote Pacific island of Saipan to plead guilty to espionage charges in a US court.
The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder touched down at Saipan International Airport in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, two hours ahead of his scheduled hearing on Tuesday evening.
As part of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, he is expected to admit to conspiring with army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to disseminate classified information, in exchange for avoiding further prison time.
Two SUVs were visible driving onto the airfield to pick him up and then leaving via a side gate, before dropping him off at the US district court where he was surrounded by reporters.
As he entered, Assange appeared to be wearing a necktie by Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler – likely a tribute to Westwood’s longstanding support and friendship before her death in 2022.
Once formalized, the plea deal will put an end to more than a decade of legal struggles between the most powerful country on Earth and an activist publisher once condemned by Joe Biden as a “closer to a high-tech terrorist”.
Assange had previously served more than five years in a British prison for breaking bail conditions while under investigation by Swedish authorities for rape and sexual assault, which he has always denied.
The US court is expected to subtract those years in prison from his sentence, leaving him free to return to his wife and children in Australia.
Julian Assange arrives at the US district court in Saipan on June 26, 2024 (REUTERS)”It is hard to believe that Julian has been in prison for so long,” said Assange’s wife Stella. “It had become normalized. I am grateful to the people who made this possible, but I am also angry that it ever came to this.
“Overall I am elated, but I cannot believe it is actually happening until I see Julian.”
The charges against Assange stem from one of the largest publications of classified information in American history, which took place during the first term of Barack Obama’s presidency.
Between 2009 and 2011, under Assange’s leadership, WikiLeaks published numerous classified US government materials leaked by Chelsea Manning, including an infamous video of an American helicopter strike in Iraq that killed two Reuters journalists and two children.
The disclosures made him among the most divisive – and most wanted – people in the world, with supporters hailing him as a hero of transparency and freedom of the press while Western politicians accused him of endangering national security and undermining the war on terror.
Even some political allies, however, said they were alienated by his divisive and uncompromising personality and by his decision to publish some documents unredacted, potentially putting informants and other individuals at risk.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrives at the US district court in Saipan, June 26, 2024 (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)Nevertheless, the US government did not formally indict him until 2019, when officials under then president Donald Trump charged him with espionage for his work with Manning.
At the time, Assange had just been jailed in the UK after being forced to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he had been holed up for five years with deteriorating health.
The Australian-born computer expert had claimed asylum from Ecuador in order to avoid being extradited to Sweden over accusations of rape and sexual assault, fearing that this could in turn lead to his capture by the US.
Swedish prosecutors eventually discontinued their investigation, saying that, although the alleged victim’s claim was credible, “the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question”. Assange always denied all of the allegations, saying the sex was consensual.
Regardless, advocates for press freedom have frequently expressed concern about the espionage charges and the plea deal itself, saying that publishing classified documents is an essential part of holding the powerful to account.
In recent years, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese began campaigning for Assange’s release, arguing that it served no purpose to keep him incarcerated.
“This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grassroots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations,” said WikiLeaks in a statement on Monday.
“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 finalised.”
