WikiLeaks founder Assange en-route to final US court hearing ahead of release

RFI

25 June 2024 at 7:27 am·2-min read

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from prison in Britain and is set to face a final court hearing after reaching a plea deal with US authorities that brings his long legal drama to a close.

WikiLeaks announced that Julian Assange was freed on bail from prison in London, where he had been held for five years while he fought extradition to the United States, which sought to prosecute him for revealing military secrets.

He flew out of London on Monday to travel to the Northern Mariana Islands – a US territory in the Pacific – where he will plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information, according to a court document.

A charter plane carrying the 52-year-old reportedly landed in Bangkok on Tuesday for a scheduled refuelling stop before flying to Saipan, capital of the US territory where Assange is due in court on Wednesday morning.

He is expected to be sentenced to five years and two months in prison, with credit for the same amount of time spent behind bars in Britain.

According to Assange's wife Stella, he would be a "free man" after the judge signs off on the deal, thanking supporters who have campaigned for years for his release.

She added the end of the long legal drama had brought a "whirlwind of emotions".

The court in the Northern Mariana Islands was chosen because of Assange's unwillingness to go to the continental United States, and because of the territory's proximity to his native Australia.

The victims included two Reuters journalists.

The Independent
Seven people - including four kids - shot by neighbor who once told them to ‘go back to where they came from’
Motive still being investigated, but shooting ‘could’ have racial element, police say
The Independent
Bodycam footage released after 13-year-old boy shot and killed by police in New York
Body camera footage released by the department shows officers tackling the boy to the ground before firing a gun
People
'Very Sweet Young Lady' Is Killed on Her 21st Birthday, Suspect in Custody
Joselyn Toaquiza was reported missing on Wednesday, June 19, the day after she turned 21, before police learned she'd been killed the day before
The Independent
Prostitute is fatally strangled then sexually assaulted inside Las Vegas casino by man who said he ‘snapped’
Jason Kendall, 35, is being held without bond in connection to the murder of Larissa Garcia at a Las Vegas casino
South China Morning Post
China urges 'severe punishment' for killers of citizen in Philippines
China has urged the Philippines to find and "severely punish" the killers of a kidnapped Chinese citizen in a case that has led to a diplomatic intervention by Beijing. The Chinese embassy in Manila said it had been informed a few days ago that the person had been kidnapped in the Philippines, and it assisted the family in reporting the case to the Philippine National Police's Anti-Kidnapping Bureau. It also intervened through diplomatic channels to ask for a rescue and that measures be taken to
The Independent
Chinese teenager injured in ‘racially motivated’ attack in New Zealand
The 16-year-old schoolboy was travelling by bus to Auckland City when he was attacked by a woman with a metal bar, police say
People
Woman Was Killed by Man Her Mom Had Forced Her to Marry — and Now the Mother Is Convicted
Prosecutors in Australia said Sakina Muhammad Jan forced her daughter to marry a man she didn't want to wed in November 2019, weeks before he killed her
People
Texas Teen Strangled Mom to Death, Then Stashed Body in Trunk and Drove to Nebraska
Tyler Roenz, who was 17 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty to murder in connection with the 2022 death of his 49-year-old mother Michelle Roenz
People
Colo. Man Killed Wife and Daughter with Ax, Then Called 911 and Told Police He Didn't Regret It
Reginald Maclaren was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder
AFP News
Nepal jails 'Buddha boy' for 10 years over child sex abuse
A Nepali court on Monday sentenced a man whose followers believe him to be a reincarnation of Buddha to 10 years in prison for child sexual abuse.He was convicted of child sexual abuse last week by the court in Nepal's southern town of Sarlahi.
Associated Press
Driver whose car struck pedestrians in South Korea will face accidental homicide investigation
A driver whose car struck pedestrians waiting at a crowded intersection in South Korea's capital, killing nine people, will be investigated on allegations of accidental homicide, police said Tuesday. The car hit several people Monday night in central Seoul, after reportedly going in the wrong direction and colliding with two other cars. The driver told investigators that his car accelerated abruptly and unintentionally, reported South Korean media.
The Independent
Ted Bundy was a prime suspect in her 51-year-old murder. Now cops know who really did it
A box of DNA evidence collected in the 1970s helped lead investigators to Ann Woodward’s killer
The Independent
Marjorie Taylor Greene rages outside Bannon’s prison - but is interrupted by a ‘Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body’ sign
The sign made reference to a name Rep Jasmine Crockett gave to Majorie Taylor Greene during a heated argument
Associated Press
Australian police arrest 14-year-old boy suspected of stabbing a student at the University of Sydney
A 14-year-old boy dressed in military clothing was arrested after police alleged he stabbed a 22-year-old student in the neck Tuesday at the University of Sydney. The student was taken to hospital in a stable condition. The suspect was treated in hospital for cuts and was kept for a mental health assessment, said Mark Walton, acting assistant commissioner for the New South Wales Police.
The Guardian
Life at the heart of Japan’s lonely deaths epidemic: ‘I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried’
Some 68,000 people are expected to die alone and unnoticed in Japan this year, police say, as the population continues to age
AFP News
The Indian women campaigning to criminalise marital rape
Raped by her husband on her wedding night aged 17, Divya described her repeated suffering -- an all-too-common account in India, permitted by a terrifying colonial-era legal loophole.India introduced a new penal code on Monday but the exception clause remains -- although it does raise the minimum age that a man can rape his wife to 18.
People
Neighbor Arrested Months After Dog Kills 2-Year-Old Ala. Boy
Mark Alan Partain was killed by the dog in March. The dog had attacked someone else months before
The Telegraph
Trump asks judge to throw out hush money convictions hours after immunity ruling
Donald Trump has asked the judge in his hush money case to throw out his convictions after a Supreme Court ruling that granted him broad immunity from prosecution for official actions he took as president.
People
Mom, 23, Who Disappeared with 2 Kids May Have Been 'Coerced to Travel' to Religious Facility in Mexico: Police
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said on Facebook that Martha Unger and her two daughters, ages 1 and 2, were reported missing from their home this week
CNN
Bodycam footage shows 13-year-old fleeing police before being shot
Police in Utica, New York, were investigating a robbery and approached the teen as he matched the robber suspect’s description. A chaotic scene unfolds afterwards, captured on police body camera footage.

Latest stories