The US Justice Department is considering allowing Julian Assange to plead guilty to mishandling classified information, opening the possibility of a deal that could eventually lead to his release from a British prison, the Wall Street Journal reports. Assange is trying to avoid being extradited to the United States and facing trial for publishing thousands of classified U.S. military documents and diplomatic cables around 2010. After U.S. prosecutors indicted him in 2019, forces of the British order were arrested and he is still in prison in London. Since.
The hypothesis of a reduced sentence, all options available
Justice Department officials and Assange's lawyers have held preliminary discussions in recent months about a possible plea deal. The talks come after Assange has spent around five years behind bars. Any agreement would require approval from the highest levels of the Department of Justice and – affirms the American newspaper – its positive outcome is by no means obvious. If prosecutors allowed Assange to pursue the US charge of mishandling classified documents, it would be a misdemeanor. Under such a deal, Assange could potentially make such a request remotely, without setting foot in the United States. And time spent behind bars in London would count toward any American sentence. Separately, the British High Court's decision on the activist's appeal against his extradition to the United States is expected within a few weeks. Chelsea Manning, a former US Army intelligence analyst convicted of leaking government secrets to WikiLeaks, has served seven years in prison. Legal experts have said any possible sentence against Assange would likely be less than that served by Manning.
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