Information: Assange may avoid extradition to the United States

Published March 21, 2024 at 10:01 a.m.

Foreign. The Department of Justice in Washington is considering entering into an agreement with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange so that he can avoid extradition to the United States. This is stated by sources to the Wall Street Journal.

Share the article

TwittraShare

According to the sources, there have been negotiations between US representatives and Julian Assange's defense lawyers in recent months.

Something that has been discussed is reportedly having Assange plead guilty to a less serious crime – recklessly handling classified information. This would mean that he does not need to be extradited.

If that happens, he can participate in the trial remotely. In addition, the five years he has already spent in a British prison can be counted against a possible sentence.

Great Britain's then Home Secretary Priti Patel signed an extradition order in 2022 which Assange appealed.

Five years ago Assange is incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison in Great Britain. Before that, he spent seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he fled to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was arrested in his absence for rape after having consensual sex with two Swedish feminists. The risk was then imminent that Sweden – if he was caught by the Swedish authorities – would extradite him to the USA.

The Julian Assange case

• Green light to extradite Assange to the US
• Assange's appeal stopped
• Ecuador revokes Assange's citizenship
• Biden wants Assange extradited
• Assange will not be released on the loose

Show all