Julian Assange (53), the founder of WikiLeaks, which released hundreds of thousands of classified US documents, will plead guilty and be released from prison as part of a deal with the US government, according to foreign media reports. This will mark the end of a years-long legal battle between the US government and Assange, and he is expected to be released.

Assange is expected to be released from a British prison where he is currently incarcerated and return to his home country of Australia. According to the New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (WP) on Thursday (local time), Assange is scheduled to appear in court in Saipan, a US territory, on Friday morning and plead guilty to charges of violating US espionage laws. A guilty plea will result in a five-year sentence, but he is likely to be released soon as the five years he has already served in a British prison will be taken into account. Assange's team has reached a plea bargaining agreement with the US Department of Justice, bringing the trial to a close.

It is also interpreted that the trial of Assange is taking place in Saipan, close to his hometown of Australia, rather than on the US mainland, as a result of negotiations between the US government and Assange's team. Assange's team had refused to be extradited to the US, arguing that he could face up to 175 years in prison if he was tried there. The NYT reported that a Justice Department official in the Counterterrorism Section told the judge handling the case that "Assange will appear in the Saipan court as scheduled at 9am on Friday, and once all the procedures are complete, he will return to Australia."

WikiLeaks issued a statement saying, "We are grateful to everyone who has dedicated themselves to Assange's freedom," in relation to his release. The statement also said that Assange had left the British prison to appear in court in Saipan on Friday. Stella Assange, Assange's wife and lawyer, also said on social media that her husband "will be free in a week or so."

Assange, an Australian national who founded WikiLeaks in 2006, released classified diplomatic cables and reports on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through WikiLeaks in 2010. The leaked information, which included evidence of wrongdoing by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, caused a major stir.

That same year, Assange was issued an arrest warrant in Sweden on charges of sexual assault, but he denied the charges and went into hiding in the UK in 2012. When he was arrested by British police in 2019, the US indicted him on 18 charges, including espionage, and demanded his extradition to the US. The US Department of Justice concluded that Assange's act of obtaining and releasing classified information was a threat to national security beyond the scope of journalism.

However, Assange's team argued that it was a suppression of freedom of the press and fought back through legal proceedings. Assange's extradition to the US has been a matter of international concern. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had asked the US to end the Assange case, and Australian lawmakers passed a resolution calling for Assange's return to Australia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also made it clear that the UK should not extradite Assange to the US. Protests against Assange's extradition to the US were held in Europe. Assange's family said that his health had deteriorated as a result of more than a decade of legal battles.

In April this year, US President Joe Biden, when asked about Australia's request for Assange's return, responded that he was "considering it." The WSJ commented that "Assange's release will also reduce political pressure on the US government."