Julian Assange

In June, 2024, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to enter a plea deal with the Joe Biden administration that could pave the way for him to avoid imprisonment in the United States.

He was charged due to his alleged involvement in one of the largest breaches of classified US government material.

Key Points

The deal will end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return home to Australia.
The deal will make him free from any additional prison time.
He founded WikiLeaks in 2006, creating an internet-based "dead letter drop" for leakers of classified or sensitive information.
In 2010, WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents on Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - the largest security breaches of their kind in US military history - along with swaths of diplomatic cables.
He had been sought by US authorities for publishing confidential military records leaked by Chelsea Manning between 2010 and 2011.
He faced 18 counts from a 2019 indictment related to the breach, which carried a potential maximum sentence of up to 175 years in prison, although it was unlikely he would receive the full term.