Things to know about how Julian Assange and US prosecutors arrived at a plea deal to end his case

WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is back in Australia a free man, resolved through a settlement a U.S. Department of Justice case in which he was accused of obtaining and publishing government secrets on his secrets website.

It was a stunning conclusion to a polarizing drama that played out at the intersection of press freedom and national security, spanned three presidential administrations and played out on multiple continents.

Here are some things you should know:

The plea deal was the result of a lengthy negotiation process that has accelerated in recent months and included numerous proposals and counter-proposals.

About a year and a half ago, an attorney for Assange made a presentation to federal prosecutors in Virginia that included a bold request: that they stop the case.

That was untenable for the Justice Department, but months later prosecutors asked whether Assange would be open to resolving the case through a guilty plea. Assange’s team was open to exploring that possibility, but had two lines in the sand for what a deal would entail: no additional prison time and the ability to avoid reentry into the United States, consistent with his distrust of the government.

Assange’s lawyer suggested he confess to a crime. Under federal rules, this could be done remotely, without Assange having to travel to the US. Another option was to have the organization WikiLeaks plead guilty to a crime and Assange to a crime.

Ultimately, Justice Department leaders in recent months have floated the concept of a deal that would guarantee Assange’s freedom and allow him to plead outside the 50 states. While the list of places that meet that criteria is narrow—Guam is one—the Northern Mariana Islands were selected.

In any case, it was already a complicated matter, not only legally but also practically.

For starters, the Justice Department had to find a way to secure Assange’s extradition from the high-security Belmarsh prison. where he was taken in 2019 after being deported from the Ecuadorian embassy that had granted him asylum seven years earlier.

The extradition request encountered obstacles that, after five years of captivity, were still not clearly resolved.

In just one example, a court in London ruled last month that Assange could appeal an earlier extradition order to the US, where two Supreme Court justices ruled in Assange’s favour after his lawyers argued the US government had given “manifestly inadequate” assurances that he could attempt to defend himself by invoking the same First Amendment protections as in America.

Given the difficult extradition process and the fact that Assange had already served more than five years in custody, a sentence comparable to — or possibly longer than — what a defendant could receive in the U.S., the Justice Department did not miss a beat as it worked to resolve the case.

Saipan is a quiet and rural island in the Pacific Oceanthe scene of a battle between the US and Japan during World War II and, more recently, a diving destination with lavish golf courses.

On Wednesday, it was the unlikely location of a historic conclusion to a sensational trial.

The location was no coincidence. Assange was determined during the plea negotiations not to be brought to the United States, fearing a number of catastrophic scenarios that he and his supporters had imagined.

After a marathon flight from London to Bangkok en route to the final destination, Assange arrived at the island’s grand federal courthouse. He got out of a white vehicle, dressed in a dark suit and with a gold-colored tie loose around his neck.

In the courtroom, he listened intently, put on glasses to look at the paperwork and even joked occasionally. When it came time to address the court, he said he believed the First Amendment and the Espionage Act, under which he was charged, conflicted, but that he accepted the outcome.

After the plea was entered, U.S. District Judge Ramona Manglona called him a “free man” and walked out of the courthouse with lawyers to a large media contingent.

“How does it feel to be a free man, Mr. Assange?” someone shouted.

He smiled, nodded, and walked on.

Assange raised a celebratory clenched fist as he returned to his homeland aboard a charter jet on Thursday, greeted by cheering supporters. It was a welcome change of scenery after seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy and five years in prison.

He spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a telephone call from the airport in the capital Canberra and told him that Australian intervention in the prosecution had saved his life, according to his lawyer Jennifer Robinson.

He hugged his wife Stella and his father John Shipton, who were waiting on the tarmac. But less than two hours after landing, he avoided the media at a news conference.

It’s unclear what the future holds, but the White House has dismissed any suggestion that President Joe Biden would consider a pardon.

His wife told reporters that the anti-secrecy crusader may have been seeking more modest pleasures.

“Julian plans to swim in the ocean every day. He plans to sleep in a real bed. He plans to taste real food and he plans to enjoy his freedom,” Stella Assange said.