Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is on the verge of freedom after he reached a plea deal with the US that will bring an end to his 14-year British legal saga.

The 52-year-old Australian, known to some as a champion of free press and to others as a dangerous renegade, has agreed to plead guilty to violating US espionage law.

He will appear at US federal court on Wednesday in the Pacific’s Northern Mariana Islands before expecting to fly home to Australia following his sentencing.

The US has provided assurances to the high court in London in an attempt to prevent a last-ditch appeal by Julian Assange against extradition, but the WikiLeaks founder’s wife has dismissed them as “weasel words”.

Last month, two judges deferred a decision on whether Assange, who is trying to avoid being prosecuted in the US on espionage charges relating to the publication of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents, could take his case to an appeal hearing.

They granted him permission to appeal but only if the Biden administration was unable to provide the court with suitable assurances “that the applicant [Assange] is permitted to rely on the first amendment, that the applicant is not prejudiced at trial, including sentence, by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same first amendment [free speech] protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed”.

LONDON — A British court ruled Tuesday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not be extradited immediately to the United States to face hacking and espionage charges and that U.S. officials must first provide assurances to British authorities that he will be able to rely on free speech protections and not incur the death penalty in a U.S. trial.

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s fight to avoid facing spying charges in the United States may be nearing an end following a protracted legal saga in the U.K. that included seven years of self-exile inside a foreign embassy and five years in prison.

Assange faces what could be his final court hearing in London starting Tuesday as he tries to stop his extradition to the U.S. The High Court has scheduled two days of arguments over whether Assange can ask an appeals court to block his transfer. If the court doesn’t allow the appeal to go forward, he could be sent across the Atlantic.