WikiLeaks founder pleads guilty to espionage to gain freedom

Assange, 52, arrived at court in a white SUV with his team and Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd. Dozens of media from around the world gathered outside the courtroom to cover the proceedings.

Julian Assange appears outside court. Photo: AP

Assange has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified US defense documents, according to a filing in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.

Prosecutors said the US territory in the western Pacific was chosen because Assange objected to traveling to the US mainland and because of its proximity to Australia. Assange is expected to be sentenced to 62 months in prison, but will be released and return home to Australia.

That's because Australian-born Assange has spent more than five years in a high-security prison in the UK, and seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to fight extradition to the US.

Assange's supporters see him as a victim because he has exposed US military misconduct and crimes in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Bui Huy (according to Reuters, CNN, AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/wikileaks-founder-accused-of-criminal-trafficking-post300771.html