SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (Reuters) – The hearing into Julian Assange’s plea deal began on Wednesday in a courtroom on the U.S. Pacific island of Saipan, where he is expected to walk free after a deal with U.S. prosecutors.
Assange is expected to plead guilty to breaching the US Espionage Act and be allowed to return to Australia after years of fighting extradition to the US while in a British prison.
Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
The U.S. territory in the western Pacific was chosen because of Assange’s opposition to travel to the U.S. mainland and its proximity to Australia, prosecutors said.
