Julian Assange will plead guilty in agreement with the US and return to Australia

The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assangewill plead guilty to a felony in a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to court documents filed Monday, resolving a long legal saga that spanned several continents and centered on the release of classified documents.

Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth located in the western Pacific, to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to illegally obtain and disseminate confidential national defense information, according to the Department of Justice in a letter filed with the court.

The guilty plea, which must be approved by a judge, ends a criminal case of international intrigue and the US government’s years-long persecution of a publisher whose popular secret information-sharing website found him. became a cause for many press freedom advocates who claimed that he acted as a journalist to expose crimes committed by the United States military.

Investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly asserted that their actions violated laws meant to protect sensitive information and endangered U.S. national security.

Assange is expected to return to Australia following his plea and sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning local time in Saipan, the largest island in the Marianas. The hearing will be held there because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to the continental United States and the court’s proximity to Australia.

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