Julian Assange has been on trial for more than a decade.
In early April 2024, US President Joe Biden announced that he was considering a request from the Australian authorities to close the case against Australian citizen Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. April 11 marks 5 years since the journalist Assange is in the British prison Belmarsh. In fact, he spent almost 14 years under arrest in the UK for publishing revealing materials for US intelligence agencies from third-party sources. Earlier, representatives of the US Attorney's Office refused to assure British judges that Assange would not be sentenced to 175 years in prison or even executed after extradition.
In 2023, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albany called for the closure of the Assange case as a citizen of the country to put an end to this story. He explained that Australia is involved only because Assange is its citizen, and the United States is seeking his extradition from the UK under American laws. According to the Prime Minister, Australia has been taking diplomatic steps in this direction for several months. In February 2024, the Australian Parliament supported a bill to end the prosecution of Assange.
At the end of March 2024, the media reported that the US Department of Justice is considering making a deal with Assange - to plead guilty to a lesser crime, namely improper handling of classified information. It is assumed that in the event of a deal, Assange can quickly leave prison. He will be able to plead guilty remotely without coming to the United States, and the time already served in Britain will be counted against the penalty. After that, Assange can be extradited to Australia to continue serving his sentence in his homeland. The Australian government is generally supportive of Assange, and experts say that once he is on Australian soil, he will be released.
In early March 2024, UN human rights activists demanded that the US Department of Justice drop the case against Assange, since he is being prosecuted for spreading already leaked information, and not for espionage. Also at the end of March, the High Court of England and Wales temporarily suspended the process of his extradition to the US authorities. The judges ruled that the United States should provide guarantees not to apply the death penalty to Assange. Otherwise, on April 16, he will be allowed to file a full appeal on the issue of extradition.
In early April 2024, US President Joe Biden announced that he was considering a request from the Australian authorities to close the case against Australian citizen Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. April 11 marks 5 years since the journalist Assange is in the British prison Belmarsh. In fact, he spent almost 14 years under arrest in the UK for publishing revealing materials for US intelligence agencies from third-party sources. Earlier, representatives of the US Attorney's Office refused to assure British judges that Assange would not be sentenced to 175 years in prison or even executed after extradition.
In 2023, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albany called for the closure of the Assange case as a citizen of the country to put an end to this story. He explained that Australia is involved only because Assange is its citizen, and the United States is seeking his extradition from the UK under American laws. According to the Prime Minister, Australia has been taking diplomatic steps in this direction for several months. In February 2024, the Australian Parliament supported a bill to end the prosecution of Assange.
At the end of March 2024, the media reported that the US Department of Justice is considering making a deal with Assange - to plead guilty to a lesser crime, namely improper handling of classified information. It is assumed that in the event of a deal, Assange can quickly leave prison. He will be able to plead guilty remotely without coming to the United States, and the time already served in Britain will be counted against the penalty. After that, Assange can be extradited to Australia to continue serving his sentence in his homeland. The Australian government is generally supportive of Assange, and experts say that once he is on Australian soil, he will be released.
In early March 2024, UN human rights activists demanded that the US Department of Justice drop the case against Assange, since he is being prosecuted for spreading already leaked information, and not for espionage. Also at the end of March, the High Court of England and Wales temporarily suspended the process of his extradition to the US authorities. The judges ruled that the United States should provide guarantees not to apply the death penalty to Assange. Otherwise, on April 16, he will be allowed to file a full appeal on the issue of extradition.
