WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh maximum security prison in the UK following a plea deal with the US Justice Department. Assange, who spent five years in London fighting extradition to the US, was accused of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security materials that exposed alleged American war crimes.
The US Department of Justice stated that Assange has agreed to plead guilty in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific. He is anticipated to receive a sentence of around five years, effectively matching his time already served in a British prison. The extradition request is expected to be withdrawn. After the court proceedings, Assange is scheduled to return to his native Australia.