In a surprising development, Wikileaks has confirmed that its founder, Julian Assange, has arrived on Saipan Island, part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a territory of the United States. The confirmation came via X, an unspecified social media platform, where Wikileaks stated, “Julian Assange has arrived on US territory at Saipan Island to formalize the plea deal that should never have had to happen.
According to data from Flightradar24, a plane believed to be carrying Assange landed on Saipan earlier in the day. The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office has stated that Assange is expected to plead guilty to certain counts and potentially face sentencing for time already served, which could allow him to walk free and return to Australia.
The court hearing where this case will be discussed is set to take place on Saipan at 9:00 a.m. local time on June 26 (11:00 p.m. GMT on June 25. Assange’s legal woes began in earnest back in 2019 when he was placed in Britain’s Belmarsh prison after being removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Since that time, Washington has been working diligently to secure extradition of the WikiLeaks founder from Britain to the United States, where Assange faces charges related to the largest case of disclosure of classified information in American history. This latest development marks a significant turn in a long and contentious legal battle, with implications for both freedom of speech and national security concerns worldwide.