Julian Assange

Julian Assange News: WikiLeaks Founder Reaches Plea Deal with U.S. Government

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been released from a British prison and is set to return home after finalizing a plea agreement with the U.S. government.

According to CNN, Assange, now 52 years old, has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge stemming from the publication of classified U.S. documents by WikiLeaks over a decade ago. Under the terms of the agreement, U.S. prosecutors will recommend a 62-month sentence for Assange, which aligns with the duration he has already served in a high-security facility in London while contesting extradition to the United States.

The pursuit of Assange by American authorities intensified following WikiLeaks’ release of confidential military documents in 2010 and 2011, concerning the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was convicted of espionage and theft for leaking these documents and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in July 2013. Her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017. Assange faced 18 counts in a 2019 indictment related to the breach, with potential penalties totaling up to 175 years in prison.

Who Is Julian Assange?

Julian Assange is an Australian activist and journalist known for his significant contributions to information transparency and whistleblowing. Possessing a remarkable intelligence quotient, he gained notoriety for hacking into the databases of several high-profile organizations. In 2006, Assange founded WikiLeaks, a platform designed to collect and disseminate confidential information globally. His efforts earned him the title of “Person of the Year” from Time magazine in 2010. Assange’s journey took a dramatic turn in 2012 when he sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to evade extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations. His work attracted further global attention in 2016 when WikiLeaks published thousands of emails from U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. After Ecuador rescinded his asylum in April 2019, Assange was indicted in the United States for violating the Espionage Act.

Early Life

Julian Paul Assange was born on July 3, 1971, in Townsville City, Australia. His childhood was unconventional; he spent his early years traveling with his mother, Christine, and his stepfather, Brett Assange, who collaborated on theatrical productions. Brett characterized Julian as an astute child who passionately advocated for the underprivileged.

As his parents’ relationship deteriorated, Julian and his mother continued a nomadic lifestyle, resulting in his attendance at approximately 37 different schools and frequent homeschooling.

Julian discovered a passion for computers in his teenage years. At the age of 16, he received his first computer as a gift from his mother, which sparked his talent for hacking. Notably, he gained notoriety in 1991 for breaching the master terminal of Nortel, a telecommunications company, which led to over 30 charges of hacking in Australia. Ultimately, he faced only a fine for damages.

Despite this early trouble, Assange pursued a career in computer programming and software development. He studied mathematics at the University of Melbourne but left before completing his degree, citing moral objections to fellow students’ military-related projects.

WikiLeaks Founder

In 2006, Assange began the development of WikiLeaks, a website aimed at collecting and sharing confidential information globally. The site officially launched in 2007 and was initially based in Sweden, taking advantage of the country’s strong laws protecting anonymity.

In its early years, WikiLeaks made significant revelations, including the release of a U.S. military manual detailing the operations of the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. The platform also published emails from then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, which had been obtained from an anonymous source in September 2008. Assange’s work through WikiLeaks has sparked widespread debate on the ethics of transparency, national security, and the role of journalism in the digital age.

2016 Email Dumps

In the summer of 2016, as the U.S. presidential race narrowed to two primary candidates—Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump—Julian Assange and WikiLeaks returned to the forefront of public discourse. In early July, WikiLeaks published over 1,200 emails from Clinton’s private server, which she used during her tenure as Secretary of State. Subsequently, the organization released another batch of emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that revealed efforts to undermine Clinton’s primary opponent, Bernie Sanders. The fallout from these disclosures resulted in the resignation of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

In October of the same year, WikiLeaks unveiled more than 2,000 emails from John Podesta, the chair of Clinton’s campaign, which included excerpts from speeches made to Wall Street banks. During this time, U.S. government officials publicly expressed their belief that Russian agents had hacked into DNC servers and provided the emails to WikiLeaks, a claim that Assange consistently refuted.

On the eve of the election, Assange issued a statement asserting that he had no personal desire to influence the electoral outcome, emphasizing that he had not received any documents from the Trump campaign for publication. He remarked, “Irrespective of the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the real victor is the U.S. public, which is better informed as a result of our work.”

Sexual Assault Allegations

In August 2010, Assange faced renewed legal challenges as Swedish authorities launched an investigation following allegations of sexual misconduct from two women. The investigation included arrest warrants related to accusations of molestation and rape, both of which stemmed from incidents that occurred during Assange’s business visit to Sweden that month. Despite the issuance of warrants, he had not been formally charged with any crimes.

Assange categorically denied the allegations, characterizing them as “completely baseless” in an interview with The New York Times. He suggested on social media that the accusations were “dirty tricks” intended to undermine WikiLeaks.

Initially, the warrants were dropped, only to be reissued later that year amid suspicions of rape, sexual molestation, and illegal coercion. Assange surrendered to London police in December 2010.

After a series of extradition hearings in early 2011, Assange was informed on November 2, 2011, that the High Court had dismissed his appeal against extradition. Despite remaining on conditional bail, he prepared to appeal the decision to the U.K. Supreme Court.

Political Asylum at the Ecuadorean Embassy

In June 2012, Julian Assange sought refuge at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, as reported by the New York Times. The Ecuadorean government granted him political asylum that August, providing him protection from arrest by British authorities as long as he remained within the embassy’s premises. This arrangement left Assange vulnerable if he attempted to leave for an airport or train station.

The Ecuadorean government’s decision was based on concerns that Assange could face “political persecution” or be extradited to the United States, where he might face the death penalty. This move created additional tension between Ecuador and the United Kingdom and prompted a response from the Swedish government. In August 2015, Swedish prosecutors dropped the lesser sexual assault allegations from 2010, although the rape allegation’s statute of limitations was set to expire in 2020.

In February 2016, a United Nations panel ruled that Assange had been arbitrarily detained, recommending his release and compensation for the deprivation of liberty. However, both the Swedish and British governments dismissed these findings as non-binding, maintaining that Assange would be arrested if he left the embassy.

On May 19, 2017, Sweden announced the closure of its rape investigation against Assange. Following this announcement, Assange remarked, “While today was an important victory and important vindication, the road is far from over. The war, the proper war, is just commencing.”

Assange was granted Ecuadorean citizenship in December 2017, yet his relationship with the country quickly deteriorated. In March 2018, the Ecuadorean government restricted his internet access, citing concerns that his actions jeopardized the country’s diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other nations.

Arrest and Indictment

In April 2019, following Ecuador’s announcement of the withdrawal of Julian Assange’s asylum, the founder of WikiLeaks was arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Shortly thereafter, U.S. authorities revealed that Assange faced charges for conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to breach a classified government computer at the Pentagon. On May 1, 2019, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for skipping bail in 2012, when he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy.

More serious charges emerged on May 23, 2019, when Assange was indicted in the United States on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act. These charges were related to his actions in obtaining and publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. The indictment sparked significant debate regarding First Amendment protections, particularly concerning the potential implications for investigative journalists who might also face criminal liability.

In January 2021, a UK judge ruled against extraditing Assange to the U.S. to stand trial for Espionage Act violations, citing concerns about his risk of suicide. However, in January 2022, a British court overturned this decision, allowing for Assange’s extradition and prompting him to pursue an appeal.

Plea Agreement with the U.S.

In May 2024, British authorities granted Assange the opportunity to appeal the extradition order. Concurrently, U.S. President Joe Biden indicated that his administration was considering a request from Assange’s native Australia to end the prosecution. This was confirmed shortly thereafter, as reports emerged that Assange had agreed to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge connected to the document leak. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors would recommend a sentence of 62 months, equivalent to the time Assange had already served in British custody. He was released on June 24, 2024, and was scheduled for a hearing in the Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific Ocean.

Documentary

In April 2017, Showtime announced the airing of the documentary Risk, which had premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The updated version incorporated events surrounding the U.S. presidential election.

Family Life

While incarcerated in London, Assange married his longtime partner Stella Moris in March 2022. The couple first met in 2011 when Moris, a lawyer, joined Assange’s legal team. They have two sons together, Gabriel and Max, who were conceived during Assange’s asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy. Assange also has an older son, Daniel, from his marriage to Teresa, which lasted from 1989 to 1999.

In addition, rumors of a relationship between Assange and actress Pamela Anderson surfaced after the former Baywatch star was seen visiting the Ecuadorian embassy in late 2016. Anderson later expressed her admiration for Assange, stating, Julian is trying to free the world by educating it. It is a romantic struggle—I love him for this.