A plane believed to be carrying Julian Assange landed in Bangkok on Tuesday, as the WikiLeaks founder was en route to enter a plea deal with the US government. This deal is expected to free him and resolve the years-long espionage case concerning the publication of classified documents.
Chartered flight VJT199 touched down at Don Mueang International Airport, north of Bangkok, around noon. Airport officials informed The Associated Press that the plane was only stopping in Bangkok for refueling and was scheduled to depart Tuesday evening for Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the western Pacific. Assange is set to appear in court there on Wednesday morning local time.
He is anticipated to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information, as stated in a letter filed by the US Justice Department in court.
Following his plea and sentencing, Assange is expected to return to his home country of Australia. Prosecutors mentioned that the hearing is taking place in Saipan due to Assange's reluctance to travel to the continental US and the court's proximity to Australia.
The guilty plea, pending judge approval, concludes a high-profile criminal case that involved international intrigue and the US government's extensive efforts to prosecute a publisher whose secret-sharing website made him a controversial figure among press freedom advocates. Investigators argued that Assange's actions violated laws protecting sensitive information and endangered national security.
WikiLeaks, in a statement on X, confirmed that Assange had departed from the British prison where he had been held for the past five years. The organization expressed gratitude for the support received, emphasizing the importance of the information they published and the severe consequences Assange faced for upholding these principles.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been advocating for the US to end its prosecution of Assange, confirmed that an Australian envoy accompanied Assange from London. "Regardless of the views that people have about Mr. Assange's activities, the case has dragged on for too long. There's nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration, and we want him brought home to Australia," Albanese stated.
The plea deal ensures Assange will acknowledge guilt but will not serve additional prison time, having already spent five years in a British prison fighting extradition to the US. This legal battle unfolded through numerous hearings in London, and Assange recently won the right to appeal an extradition order after arguing that the US government's assurances about his free speech protections were insufficient.
Assange gained notoriety for exposing military misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan through WikiLeaks. However, his reputation was also marred by rape allegations, which he denied.
The Justice Department’s indictment, unsealed in 2019, accused Assange of conspiring with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal and publish diplomatic cables and military files in 2010. Prosecutors alleged that Assange's actions compromised national security and aided US adversaries.
The plea agreement, revealed in a charging document, details Assange’s collaboration with Manning to unlawfully obtain and disseminate national defense-related documents. The document emphasized that Assange, not being a US citizen, lacked authorization to access classified information.
While press advocates and Assange supporters criticized the case, federal prosecutors maintained that Assange’s conduct surpassed journalistic activities and constituted an attempt to solicit, steal, and indiscriminately publish classified documents.
President Joe Biden considered a request from Australia to drop the prosecution against Assange, but a White House official clarified that the administration was not involved in the decision to resolve the case.
Assange previously made headlines in 2016 when WikiLeaks published Democratic emails allegedly stolen by Russian intelligence, impacting the US election. Though not charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the event highlighted the significant role of the hacking operation in supporting then-candidate Donald Trump.
Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations. After Ecuador withdrew his asylum status in 2019, he was arrested by British police and subsequently jailed for skipping bail. Although Sweden later dropped the investigation due to elapsed time, Assange remained in London's Belmarsh Prison throughout his extradition battle with the US.
