Who is Julian Assange and what secrets did he leak?
Julian Assange, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks, will plead guilty as part of a plea deal with the US Justice Department. Court documents reveal that Assange will appear in a federal court in the Mariana Islands on Wednesday, to admit guilt for an Espionage Act charge. This charge pertains to conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified national defense information unlawfully, marking a significant development after years of legal battles surrounding the WikiLeaks founder.
History of classified information leaks
Assange first gained global prominence in 2009, when WikiLeaks was linked to one of the biggest publications of classified information in US history. Alongside Chelsea Manning, a military intelligence analyst, Assange was accused of revealing tens of thousands of activity reports about the war in Afghanistan. The plea deal will allow him to avoid further imprisonment in the US, with prosecutors seeking a 62-month sentence - equivalent to his time already served at London's Belmarsh prison.
Assange's extradition battle
In 2019, US authorities charged Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, for agreeing to break a password to a classified US government computer. The charges were related to "Assange's alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States," according to a government press release. Despite resistance from his supporters, Assange's extradition was approved by UK's Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2022, marking a significant turn in this international saga.
Assange's early life and WikiLeaks's impact
Born in Townsville, Australia, Assange had a nomadic childhood and showed early prowess as a computer programmer. In 1996, he pleaded guilty to 24 hacking charges in Australia but avoided prison after promising not to reoffend. He founded WikiLeaks in 2006, an online platform for anonymous submission of classified leaks like documents and videos. Since its inception, WikiLeaks has released roughly 10 million classified documents, including files on US military activities.
Assange's long confinement and legal struggles
Assange's movements have been restricted for almost 14 years, beginning when Swedish authorities put out an arrest warrant for him in 2010. He sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after losing an appeal against extradition. After spending seven years in the embassy, he was detained again for violating bail conditions related to his arrest for the Swedish case. Since then, he has stayed at Belmarsh prison, fighting his extradition to the US.
