Julian Assange Leaves U.K. After Agreeing to Plea Deal with U.S. Government

The WikiLeaks founder was seen boarding a flight from London Stansted Airport on Monday, June 24

• Julian Assange was seen boarding a plane at London Stansted Airport on Monday, June 24

• He is expected to appear in court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, on Wednesday, June 26, after reaching a plea deal with the U.S. government

• "I'm just elated. Frankly, it's just incredible. It feels like it's not real," Assange's wife Stella told the BBC

Julian Assange, the polarizing activist and WikiLeaks founder, has been released from a British prison and is en route back to his home country of Australia after reaching a plea deal with the U.S. government.

On Monday, June 24, following a 13-year legal battle, Assange, 52, left London's Belmarsh Prison and is on his way to resolving the years-long case, per a release shared by the Crown Prosecution Service.

According to the Associated Press, Assange landed in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, June 25, for refueling before continuing his journey to Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands; a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. This is where Assange is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, June 26, the publication stated.

Per The Telegraph, papers filed on June 24 stated the U.S. Justice Department had agreed to drop 18 espionage charges against him.

The AP stated that Assange was now expected to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defense information, per a letter filed in court.

Assange is expected to be sentenced to 62 months in jail, according to Sky News, but the 62 months he's already spent in prison in London will count as time served.

The guilty plea must now be approved by a federal judge. The hearing will take place in Saipan due to Assange’s opposition to traveling to the continental U.S. and how close the court is to Australia, per the AP.

Assange was seen boarding a flight at London Stansted Airport at 5 p.m. local time on June 24 in a video posted by WikiLeaks on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Assange's wife Stella told the BBC of her husband's plea deal, "I mean, I'm just elated. Frankly, it's just incredible. It feels like it's not real."

"The important thing here is that the deal involved time served — that if he signed it, he would be able to walk free. He will be a free man once it has been signed off by a judge and that will happen some time tomorrow," she told the outlet on June 25.

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