According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly considering allowing Julian Assange to plea bargain for a lesser charge and to reduce his prison term to time already served in a U.K. prison. Agreeing to the deal would eventually result in an early release for the divisive WikiLeaks founder and journalist.
The 52-year-old journalist has already spent nearly five years in a London prison, since he was charged in 2019 by U.S. prosecutors for publishing thousands of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables around 2010.
According to sources familiar with the matter, as reported by the New York newspaper, after several months of preliminary discussions, Assange’s lawyers took the last step, advancing the proposal of softening the penalty, resolving a standoff fraught with political and legal complexities.
The final word is up to the British Ministry of Justice which declined any comment on the matter. British prosecutors could agree to Assange’s pleading to a U.S. charge of mishandling classified documents; he could potentially enter the plea remotely, without physically being present in the U.S.
Assange’s lawyer Barry Pollack has not received any indications that the court will take the deal yet.
