'Julian Assange is Free...': WikiLeaks Founder Walks Out of UK Jail After Plea Deal With US

Washington: Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks walked out from UK prison after he agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the US Justice Department, resolving a long-running legal saga over the controversy of publishing classified documents.

The United States Justice Department in a letter filed in the federal court said that Assange is expected to appear in the court in the Mariana Islands to plead guilty to an 'Espionage Act charge of conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified national defence information unlawfully.'

The plea deal ensures that the WikiLeaks founder will admit guilt while also sparing him from any additional prison time.

Assange, who had spent years hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after Swedish authorities sought his arrest on rape allegations before being locked up in the UK.

He will return to Australia after the judge approves his plea and sentencing approves the plea. If the plea is approved then it will bring an abrupt conclusion to a criminal case of 'international intrigue' and to the US government's years-long pursuit of a publisher whose hugely popular secret-sharing website caused fame among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose US military wrongdoing.

The plea agreement comes months after US President Joe Biden said he was considering a request from Australia to drop the US push to prosecute Assange.

What Charges Are Against Assange?

Assange, 52, has been indicted in the United States (US) on 17 charges of espionage and a charge of computer misuse of WikiLeaks publication of the classified documents in 2010.

Prosecutors accused Assange of conspiring with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack Pentagon systems.

They further charged him for releasing a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by the American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

Defending himself, Assange denied rape allegations.

Many heralded Assange across the world as a hero who brought light to the wrongdoing of the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Press advocates and Assange supporters criticized the case pulled up against him.

However, investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly asserted that his actions broke laws meant to protect sensitive information and put the country's national security at risk.

Assange's family and supporters have said that his physical and mental health suffered during the decade-long legal battles, including seven years spent inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

"Julian has been indicted for receiving, possessing and communicating information to the public of evidence of war crimes committed by the U.S. government," his wife, Stella Assange, said.

"Reporting a crime is never a crime," she added.

(Inputs from AP)