WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from UK prison. He was released in a deal to plead guilty to violating US ‘espionage’ laws. It ended his long legal battle to avoid extradition to the United States.
Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to leak US national defense information. The United States has been saying that WikiLeaks has threatened the lives of many people by leaking documents from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
For the past five years, Assange has been fighting a legal battle against extradition from a British prison to the United States. According to WikiLeaks, he was freed and left the UK after reaching a compromise with the US.
Under the deal, Assange will no longer have to go to US prison. He will be deemed to have pleaded guilty to the criminal charges brought against him in the United States, and the time spent in prison in the United Kingdom will count as a sentence served.
Assange will return to his native Australia after being released from UK prison, according to a letter from the US Department of Justice.
