Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder put on plane, petition filed in Bangkok

BANGKOK (AP) – Wearing a plane Julian Assange Refueling landed in Bangkok on Tuesday, as the WikiLeaks founder was going to file a petition with the US government at once, which could see him isolated and face criminal cases spanning years and continents through a newspaper. could solve. Store of Classified Paperwork,

A chartered plane from London, flown by Assange’s wife Stella, once landed at Don Mueang World Airport carrying her husband’s clothes. Officials there told The Associated Press that the plane was scheduled to head straight for Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, where Assange is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

He is expected to plead guilty to espionage office charges of conspiring to illegally download and disseminate classified national security data, according to the US Justice Branch in a court filing.

Assange is likely to return to his home country of Australia following his plea and sentencing. Prosecutors said the hearing was being held in Saipan because of Assange’s opposition to travel to the continental United States and the court’s proximity to Australia.

The responsible petition, which must be approved through adjudication, brings to an abrupt conclusion a legal case of global intrigue and the U.S. government’s years-long pursuit of an author whose widely prevalent secret-sharing web page made him an inspirational figure. Made a celebrity. Among the many press freedom supporters who mentioned that he worked as a journalist to expose the wrongdoing of the US military. On the contrary, investigators have repeatedly stressed that their actions violate rules intended to protect sensitive data and jeopardize the country’s nationwide security.

Stella Assange told the BBC from Australia that it was “touch and go” at a 72-hour pace as to whether the trade would go ahead, but that she felt “excited” by the news. A lawyer who married the WikiLeaks founder in jail in 2022 said the main points of the note would be made public as soon as a judge signs off on it.

“Once the judge signs off on it he’ll be a free man,” he said, adding that he still didn’t think it was for real.

He told Britain’s PA information agency that the aviation cost Assange $500,000 and that they might launch a fundraising campaign to help pay for it.

WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristin Hrafnsson noted that the trade for Assange followed increased Australian involvement. Top Minister Anthony Albanese,

“This is the result of a long, drawn out process that has been going on for some time. It has been a tough battle, but the focus now is on reuniting Julian with his family,” Hrafnsson told the PA information agency. “The most important thing is that Julian is free and he is finally able to enjoy the big blue sky.”

In a comment posted on the social media platform X, WikiLeaks said Assange boarded a plane and drove to the British prison on Monday, where he has spent the last five years. WikiLeaks praised the trade announcement, saying it was “grateful for all those who stood with us, fought for us and remained fully committed to the fight for our freedom.”

Albanese told parliament that an Australian envoy had accompanied Assange to London.

“Regardless of what people think about Mr. Assange’s actions, this case has dragged on for too long,” Albanese said. “There is nothing to be gained from his continued detention and we want him brought home to Australia.”

The trade guarantees that Assange will plead guilty for a month and avoid an additional prison year. it was with him spent years hiding The then Swedish government at the Ecuadorian embassy in London demanded his arrest on rape charges before he could be deported to Britain.

Assange is expected to be sentenced to five years, which he has already spent in a British prison, as he fights extradition to the US to face charges, a process carried out in a format similar to a trial in London. Is. Concluding the presentation, he got the right to Enchant an extradition layout His lawyers then argued that the US government had given “patently inadequate” terms that he would receive the same separate immunity protections as an American citizen if extradited from Britain.

Assange has been hailed by many around the world as a hero for his role in the military’s crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the news published by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter strike by US forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

But his popularity was also tarnished by rape allegations, which he has denied.

Justice branch indictment unsealed in 2019 accusing Assange of aiding and abetting American military logic analyst Chelsea Manning WikiLeaks stole diplomatic cables and armed forces information published in 2010. Prosecutors had accused Assange of destroying national security by publishing documents that harmed the United States and its allies and aided its adversaries.

The case was sharply criticized by press advocates and Assange supporters. Federal prosecutors defended it, saying it focused on habits that went far beyond a journalist’s gathering of information, amounting to an effort to solicit, steal, and indiscriminately collect classified government documents.

The word ‘Ghuhar’ comes months later President Joe Biden He said he was considering Australia’s request to ease US pressure to prosecute Assange. White Area was not involved in the decision to settle Assange’s case, according to a White Area official who was not licensed to speak publicly about the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Assange made headlines again in 2016, when his page revealed Democratic emails that prosecutors say were stolen by Russian intelligence handlers. He was not charged in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, but the investigation clearly highlighted the role that the hacking operation played in interfering in that month’s election in the name of then-Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Throughout the Obama administration, Justice branch officials considered charges for Assange, but were not convinced that a case would hold up in court and were concerned that it would be appropriate to prosecute him for acts involving the actions of an ordinary journalist. It may be difficult to arrange.

On the other hand, attitudes changed under the Trump leadership, with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017 calling Assange’s arrest a matter of concern.

Assange’s community and supporters have said that his physical and mental condition has been very poor. Jail battle of more than a decade,

Assange took refuge inside Ecuador Embassy in London in 2012 and was granted political asylum, then English courts ruled that she should be extradited to Sweden as part of a rape investigation in the Scandinavian country. He was arrested by British police, then the Ecuadorian government withdrew his asylum status in 2019 and he was jailed for skipping bail when he first sought safe haven at the embassy.

Although Sweden eventually closed its investigation into his sex crimes as the years passed, Assange remained in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison during his extradition fight with the United States.

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Tucker reported from Fortress Pierce, Florida, and Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Colleen Long in Washington, Napat Kongsawad and David Emerging in Bangkok, Jill Lawless and Brian Melly in London and Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia contributed to this document.