papers leading on the founder of wikileaks, julian assange, has arrived at a court in the northern mariana islandssult in him being set free. he flew to the northern mariana islands as part of an arrangement struck with us prosecutors, after spending five years in belmarsh prison fighting extradition to the united states. mr assange uploaded classified us military files to his website nearly 15 years ago. 0ur correspondent caroline hawley reports. julian assange, a polarising figure, was already airborne when the world learned of the deal that secured his release. it's a whirlwind of emotions. i mean, i'm just elated, frankly. it's just incredible. i don't know... it kinda feels like it's not real. light them allup... it was this footage released by wikileaks in 2010 that brought julian assange international attention. it shows an american helicopter gunship shooting unarmed iraqi civilians. it was part of a flood of classified material, military files and diplomatic cables, spilt by wikileaks that year. months later, an international arrest warrant was issued. sweden wanted to his question him ab

the northern marianas, the northern mariana islands, that is where he will enter his plea. julian assange first made a name for himself leaking volumes of classified information on america's wars in afghanistan and iraq through the site wikileaks. he then in 2016 published leaked material the russian intelligence services had hacked from the democratic party. russian military intelligence stole the material, then they used wikileaks. they disseminated the material through wikileaks in a specific effort to hurt hillary clinton's campaign and help donald trump's campaign. donald trump, you will remember, happily accepted the help. he cited wikileaks nearly 150 times during the campaign. at one point just flat-out crowing "i love wikileaks." three years later when trump's justice department indicted julian assange, trump claimed he knew nothing about this organization. the biden administration is the third u.s. administration to try to figure out what to do with julian assange. the obama justice department ultimately decided that the first amendment issues were basically too t

after leaving the uk, his plane was seen taking off from bangkok airport en route to the northern mariana islandsrt. let's speak to our correspondent shaimaa khalil, who's in saipan in the northern mariana islands. just fill us in, shaimaa, on what we can expect later. t just fill us in, shaimaa, on what we can meet later-— can expect later. i am standing 'ust outside the — can expect later. i am standing 'ust outside the us fl can expect later. i am standing 'ust outside the us district i can expect later. i am standing 'ust outside the us district court h can expect later. i am standing just outside the us district court here l outside the us district court here in saipan in the northern mariana islands, wherejulian assange is expected in a few hours to start the hearing, and to complete his guilty plea proceedings. in a few hours, he's expected to plead guilty to a single felony of obtaining and disclosing security material, national security material. that guilty plea is an exchange of his release from the london jail. now, it is quite a contrast if you think about it, this remote island that

northern marianas. the northern mariana islands is where he will enter his plea.. he then in 2016, published leaks material russian intelligence services had hacked from the democratic arty. russian military intelligence stole the material, then they used wikileaks. they disseminated the material for wikileaks in a specific effort to hurt hillary clinton's campaign and help■ç donald trump's campaign. donald trump, you will remember, happily accepted the help. he cited wikileaks nearly 150 times near the campaign, at one point just flat-out crowing, i love wikileaks. three years later when trump's justice department indicted julian assange, trump claims he knew nothing about this organization. the biden administration is the third u.s. administration to try to figure out what to do with julian assange. the obama justice department ultimately decided that the first amendment issues were basically two thorny. when the truck justice department indicted in 2019, many people feared it would have a chilling effect on the ability of journalists to report on national secur

so right now the julian assigns is appearing before court on the northern mariana islands. now those islands live between australia and japan. it is the closest us court to astray leo, which was an important requirement made by julia and assigned you in agreeing to the deal. he did not want to be delivered to the continental united states, and he appeared at court along side him. there is the phone restraining prime minister, kevin rogers, now the ambassador to the united states. and that underlines the political significance of this case for a stray. the julian science has gone to quite a degree of sympathy from all sides of politics. here many politicians have, i advocated for his release, the start of the impala, and passed the resolution calling for his release. even those who think or who died support when he did wiki leaks, i think he's been sufficiently punished and that this case has just gone on for too long. so what's gonna happen now in the next few minutes, his expected to enter a plea deal to plead guilty to a charge under the espionage act for receiving and pu

hello, it's 8am here in singapore and 10am in the northern mariana islands where we begin this hour because julian assange has officially pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified us national defence documents in court. here he is walking into court about two hours ago. he flew to the islands as part of a deal struck with prosecutors, after spending five years in belmarsh prison, in the uk, fighting extradition to the united states. mr assange uploaded classified military files to his website nearly 15 years ago. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil was at the northern mariana islands and gave us this update earlier.

does have territories bomb americans demo uh, puerto rico us virgin islands, and yes, the northern mariana islands and the archipelago. 14 islands, the main island stipend to union and rhoda. if at the very least, the geography lesson for those around the world of america's reach. and also that there is federal courts here on the west or pacific even on guam. where the us constitution does rule and can handle cases just like any other district court in the united states come as well known as chief regional, corresponded for k u a. i news, we appreciate it. thank you very much. indeed. thank you. and you as president of having to cost on rest at whatever cost. he says the storming of parliament by protest as has been treasonous. the countries medical association says at least 13 people were killed during the day of demonstrations after m. p. pasta bill imposing new taxes. the amount of trade was sent in after hundreds of protesters poured into the parliament comp time to nairobi. burton parts of the building, the us and the african union are urging restraint. they say all size should talk to each o

also the northern mariana islands as i mentioned are close to australia and the department ofjustice in this letter they expect him to return back to his home country. as i mentioned, the story ofjulian assange has been playing up for such a long time, his battle against us charges has been dragging on for years in the uk and publicly it has also been a big dipper maddick headache for president bidons administration. he considers the australians a key ally, a key security ally and he has faced pressure from australia to end his legal limbo and it looks like it is finally coming to an end. let's speak to former federal prosecutor and president of west coast trial lawyers, neama rahmani. thank you for being on the programme. give us your reaction to the deal. i am shocked- _ reaction to the deal. i am shocked. julian _ reaction to the deal. i am shocked. julian assange i reaction to the deal. i —n shocked. julian assange weeded out the department ofjustice. these types of time certain deals don't happen. you are hunter biden or doyle in assigns, to get a deal like this after his co—con

hello, it's 8am here in singapore and 10am in the northern mariana islands where we begin this hour because the founder of wikileaks, julian assange has officially pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified us national defence documents in court. here he is walking into court about two hours ago. he flew to the islands as part of a deal struck with prosecutors, after spending five years in belmarsh prison, in the uk, fighting extradition to the united states. mr assange uploaded classified military files to his website nearly 15 years ago. our correspondent shaimaa khalil was at the northern mariana islands and gave us this update earlier. they said he will be landing in australia wants to hearing wraps up. his plan is committed to depart inside three hours time, that he would land around 6:1i1pm australian eastern time. that is later today. our correspondent shaimaa khalil was at the northern mariana islands and gave us this update earlier. julian assange is in the us district court house behind me where the final steps of the legal proceedings for hi

yes. hop it isn't tito from site bad us territory in the northern mariana islands. i'm outside of the site then international airport where like you said, we're just waiting to see when exactly we can weeks founder julie and a sizable land before his us district. port federal erie tomorrow, which is scheduled for 9 am tomorrow standard time on site, then at the us district for to here. we're still waiting to see by all of our observations. right now. we've been here all day looking either doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary a pretty normal day here. but of course, that will rapidly change once julian assigns land to enter in the us district court to entered his plea that was just reported on. and thomas de take everyone by surprise. yes it did. no one saw it coming and particular no one saw the coming year. and that was one of the many questions that people asked today is why stipend, why this us territory and the northern mariana islands will, according to port filings from the department of justice, the united states attorney. it's because the son didn

asancha has been released from a high-security british prison and is now heading to the northern mariana islands to appear before an american court again. rain bomb in kurgan, cars and pedestrians are moving in the water, a state of emergency is in effect at the seaside due to floods, in the voronezh region, hail was damaged by a car, windows in houses were broken. and in moscow they awarded the main theater prize. the thirtieth anniversary golden mask has found its winners. the jury members literally traveled all over the country. 77 people were injured. during the ukrainian shelling , sevastopol is in local and moscow hospitals, the minister of health spoke about this today, as murashka noted, more than half of those evacuated to the capital patients are children, now our correspondent mikhail fedotov is working near the russian children's clinical hospital, he is in direct contact with the studio. mikhail, i greet you, what is known about the condition of the victims at this time. irina, hello, just a few minutes ago with... doctors, we visited the intensive care unit of a russian children's

wikileaks founder julian assange it is about to land in the northern mariana islands where he will plead one charge under the espionage act. it is 14 years since he probably specify details of the iraq and afghan wars and we reaction from the united states. good evening. first the conservatives, now labor, both parties are involved in the betting scandal. today the tories withdrew support from two candidates, craig williams and laura saunders, who had bet on the timing of the election. both on the ballot as conservatives but will sit as independents is selected. then tonight, labor suspending kevin cragg who apparently had bet against himself. the party returned 100,000 pounds in donations the businessman had given them. there is a since we don't yet know the full extent of the investigation. the gambling commission says five metropolitan officers are alleged to have placed bets but only one is being criminally investigated. our political editor chris mason. reporter: this is craig williams, a friend and parliamentary aide to the prime minister. he turned down my request for an interview

and the western specific called the northern mariana islands. and i think it's safe to say that if this situation or a situation like it took place with any other country in the world, this would all be going down a lot differently. this was interesting, riley and citizen. he was notices in the united states. he was not in the united states when this felony is what they say was, was credit. he did not steal the information. if the dissemination of this information is a crime, then every person where i now stand in the palm of the strategies of the site is on the way to the united states of america. because your printers and you know that christ method confusions. i didn't want to, i don't want to place in australia where if i offend the crown i'm of to read. if i've seen the chinese communist party, i'm of to badging i or the strange citizen who has friends alone in the united states as of the north side, unless he's in the united states need. when he commits that. and that's the case. that's a, that's a completely different issue. but from what

he flew to the northern mariana islands as part of a deal struck with us prosecutors, after spendingtion to the united states. mr assange uploaded classified us military files to his website nearly 15 years ago. 0ur asia correspondent shaimaa khalliljoins us from the courthouse in saipan. almost the end of quite an extraordinaryjourney? sophie, in so many ways, this has been a very long journey forjulian assange. he has waited years for this very moment. the founder of wikileaks was released from belmarsh prison in london, boarded a plane to bangkok, and then from here saipan in the northern mariana islands, where he is during this us district court behind me. he is expected to plead guilty of one felony, of obtaining and disclosing national security material. no jail time for this deal. he will be given credit forjail time in the uk. our correspondence looks at the long and bitter stand—off between the us government and julian assange. julian assange, a polarising figure, was already airborne when the world learned of the deal that secured his release. it's a whirlwind of emotions.

he is due to appear in a us federal court in one of the northern mariana islands soon. this is the territory of the usa in the western part of the pacific ocean. and there assange must admit. guilty of disclosing military secrets and espionage. his release from prison was made possible by a plea deal he made with the united states authorities. since 2019, he has been in a maximum-security prison in london, and all this time he has contested extradition to the united states, because in the event of extradition and conviction, he faced up to 175 years in prison. assange's plane flew from london to australia. stops first in thailand to refuel the plane, then a court hearing on the island of saipan, if if he pleads guilty, which is what the deal says, assange will go home to australia. by the way, the australian authorities paid half a million dollars for this trip, which assange must return. this was reported by his wife stella asanche. more in the next article. for some, he is a leading journalist who brings those in power to account. for... others, one who endangers nati

far out in the pacific ocean are the northern mariana islands, they are very far from here, they arech closer to australia than the united states, and this proximity plays a decisive role in the larger story. at 9:00 am local time. in the northern mariana islands , julian asanche will stand trial at the us federal courthouse in saipan after pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing national security materials. and what really matters is that after he pleads guilty, he will be allowed to fly home to his native australia, a free man. it's great that julian asanche will finally be released, which smacks of biden's desperate gambit in the fight. for libertarian votes, but it's shameful that he had to rot in a foreign prison for years for doing what other reporters regularly do, while the government employee who leaked the information to him, chelsea mening, whose sentence was commuted by obama , because she belongs to the privileged political class and is transgender. julian assange deserves a pardon and is long overdue for reinstatement america has at least one

he is heading right now to see you upon, the northern mariana islands which is a u.s.tory in about 12 hours, guys. he will enter or i should say expected to enter that go ahead plea. according to court documents released late last night assange will plead guilty to a charge conspiring to unlawfully obtain disseminate classified information to the national defense of the united states. which is part of the espionage act. he was behind the wikileaks release of thousands of documents from u.s. chelsea manning in 2010. note that as part of the deal the united states government is allowing him to plead in sigh upon, northern mariana islands u.s. territory he will be in a u.s. federal courtroom. technically he will set foot on u.s. soil not the continental. it is the closest federal courtroom to his home country of australia. now, once is he done pleading guilty legal issues began about 14 years ago. head back to home country of australia where his wife says he will be a free man, listen. >> it will be the first time that i -- that i get to see him as a fully free man and i

turning overseas now, the founder of wikileaks, julian assange, has arrived on the northern mariana islands, a u.s. commonwealth in the pacific, where he'll appear before a federal judge to finalize his plea deal for conspiring to hack u.s. secrets. keir simmons is following this for us. keir what more do we know? reporter. well, lester, julian assange spent the day traveling video released by his team documenting his journey today on a private jet from the u.k. to bangkok and finally to the northern mariana islands, where he's just landed and will appear in a u.s. court. the justice department's 18 charges against him, including conspiring with army intelligence officer chelsea manning to hack us secrets. reduced to just one plea deal, and he will get credit for time served five and a half years in a uk jail in 2010, assange's wikileaks released a trove of material, including details of the killing of civilians in iraq and afghanistan. this, the end of a long standoff. his next stop will likely be australia, where his wife and children are waiting for him. lester. all right, keir. thank yo

they would hold these court proceedings in the northern mariana island style. this is a us territory. it is a federal court and it is from a song she's point of view, most convenient to get back home to australia because that he is what he wants to do. immediately these court proceedings are concluded, the pre bogging is agreed on it is signed. he will be leaving the courtroom and proceeding directly back to his home in australia for the 1st time in over a 10 some 15 years. mike, kind of, thanks for that. let's uh, cross live. that's a brisbin australia with sarah clark who's following developments for us. there are set out. what's the reaction to all of this in australia thread. what does the guilty see? that's expected mean for press. freedom of the well, the prime minister to me opened easy is the one who's been leading the charge of lights. he met with us president, dr. barton, last class diploma, and publicly declared that the situation of incarceration had dragged on for too long and regardless of people's opinions on his, on his activities, it was time t

that will then be heading on to the northern mariana islands. the hearing set for wednesday morning. their time around 9 am, about 15 hours or so from now, it has been 12 years since he has walked free. >> yeah. okay. claire, thank you so much the us some regions are receiving very heavy rainfall while other areas experiencing blistering temperatures cities like sioux falls in south dakota, over a month's worth of rainfall and flood warnings are still in place in waterlogged areas and along rivers as water levels, there are running well above normal and as rivers in the region swell and aging dam in minnesota is said to be on the brink of collapse. authorities say they don't know if the rapidan dam, their, the city among carto will totally fail. but for now is still intact. and there are no plans for mass evacuations emergency officials say the blue earth river cut around the west side of the dam, carrying damaging debris and causing power outages. the dam has been around since 1910 and was only and was once a source of hydroelectric power now t

board with the creator of wikilex and refuel and fly to the northern mariana islands.efore, the court decided to release the journalist on bail. he spent more than 5 years in a maximum security prison. all this time, the british authorities were considering the issue of extraditing him to the united states, where he faces life imprisonment. according to press reports, the journalist's lawyers agreed to a deal with the american prosecutor's office on a partial admission of guilt by their client. in exchange, the osanju will receive credit for the time already served as punishment. in the northern mariana islands in us jurisdictions, it must formalize this agreement. the united states opened a case against the australian in 2010 after the publication of sensitive information for washington on the wikileaks website. when in 2012 there was a threat of his extradition to the states, he hid in the ecuadorian embassy in london, but in the nineteenth, the new ecuadorian authorities extradited him to the british. so he ended up in prison, from which he has only now been release

well, actually , everything here is quite simple: the northern mariana islands are a group of fourteenrning american commonwealth is the closest territory to australia that has an american district court. well, they chose it, of course, not only because of its comparative proximity to asandzh’s native australia, but because the prisoner was afraid to go to the mainland usa for very obvious reasons. well, yes, it is clear that the deal with american justice, which made it possible for asanji to return home after 7 years of self-isolation in the ecuadorian embassy. and 5 years of detention in a london prison were prepared for more than one day or even one month, but what behind-the-scenes political intrigues preceded and contributed to this, our correspondents, mikhail bogdanov and elizaveta gerson, will tell. this question is the first thing julian asanche will hear when he leaves the courthouse. how does it feel to be free man, mistersansh. although it would be more accurate to ask what it’s like to be a convicted criminal, after all, in a district court. northern mariana islands asanc

we've heard, he's on his way when i went in the pacific as we speak he's on his way to the northern mariana islands. now that might seem like a strange place for such an important and prominent case to be heard. and the reason is, and we know this from the united states department of justice letter is julia saunders are an opposition to traveling to continental united states. and also the islands proximity to australia, in by somewhere between australia and japan, around $5000.00 loans north of you know, his case is going to be hard to tomorrow at night time. and then he's expected to be free. and on his way to the start of the a possibly as early as later this week. and it's under, of course, himself an australian citizen. what kind of reaction have we seen from australia to this? this has been big news. your scientist case has been followed closely from the beginning and has been politicians from all major parties that was spoken out over the years in support of assault. just release today, the prime minister anthony alden, easy, he told column, and that no matter what the views of people have ab

charge of violating us espionage law. assange was attending a hearing inside pen in the northern mariana islands where he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information. the deal he struck with us, prosecutors is expected to allow him to avoid further present time and to return to his native australia massage was indicted in 2019 for publishing classified military files on his wiki lease platform for over a decade, the australian hawk attend whistle blower has divided public opinion hailed as a champion of free, pressed by many condemned as a trade to buy his detractors. it was in 2010. he became world famous. after his company weekly, published a trove of files and diplomatic cables, they included a video of an attack fight, an american apache helicopter, any rock but left 11 dead, including 2 journalists. and for some, his actions with a hallmark of a free press, the description of what it's about. so many of those the link. so nothing shots of treason and a song and an image of the states. and down here, a swedish arrest warrant for rate and s

the trial took place in the northern mariana islands, not far from the famous trench.come of a case that will always be perceived ambiguously. what he did - it exposed the truth about our own government, which i believe needed to be exposed. you can clearly compare asandzh with controlled media, for example, the same new york times. they publish government secrets on a regular basis, but only those that the government itself leaks to them. under a deal between assange's lawyers and the us department of justice, the journalist was required to plead guilty to one of eighteen counts of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified national defense documents. usa, he admitted the wine, so ideological fighters for freedom of speech do not think that asansh won, because he was forced to bend. this is not a complete victory for him or for journalism. the united states authorities stubbornly wanted to get their way and... sadly, i, like many others, consider asanja a political prisoner, and i think that america and britain look very bad in this story. well, sanch, admitting gui

assange left the uk last night, headed to northern mariana islands a u. s territory about 3000 miles north of his home in australia. he's expected to plead guilty tomorrow to 1 count of espionage. for his role in 1 of the biggest leaks of classified information. in recent us history. us prosecutors are giving him credit for serving a little more than 5 years behind bars in london, he would have faced life in prison if convicted of 18 counts. most under the espionage act for conspiring with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal classified documents relating to the iraq and afghanistan wars in 2010. >>1 takeaway here is that the us government takes the situation seriously. and that they tried very hard for years. hours to extradite him to the us s >>supporters are cheering news of the plea deal. >>this is the 1st time in the 100 year history of the espionage act that a journalist or someone committing journalism. someone engaging in journalistic act. has been prosecuted. under the espionage act for essentially receiving information and c

interesting fact about all of this is that he will enter this plea, apparently, and the northern mariana islands. the prosecution has asked the plea and the sentencing a cure on the same day. it's expected the sentence will be time served and incurring in the northern mariana islands because that's the court location nearest to his home country of australia to which he is expected to return. >> all right, one more topic before i let you go. jon, you knew i wouldn't let you leave. donald trump says he knows who his vp pick will be. where do things stand? i know he loves to play like we are watching the apprentice, the bachelor, who knows what. this is serious business. any clues? >> he could name anybody. he could name you are josh r barr. >> okay. of the three of us, who do you think has the strongest shot? >> [ laughter ] i think should leave that alone. i would note a couple of you attain the 35 years necessary to be vice president. all of our reporting so just the leading candidates are north dakota governor doug burgum and j.d. vance, the senator from ohio. marco rubio still in the mix we ar

without luggage, was put on a private plane, which he had not ordered to be sent to the northern mariana islands. they demanded half a million dollars to rent jet sasanja. he, who left prison 3 hours ago, did not have that kind of money with him, and the australian government paid for the flight on credit. wikileaks. opened a collection to pay off the debt, rare wording: a charitable contribution to pay for a private plane, as well as for treatment, more than half the amount was collected in a day. it’s good that the british did not demand that sosanj pay for six police escort cars and a helicopter, or compensation for the increased price of electricity in his prison cell, or for the security of the ecuadorian embassy in london, where he was imprisoned from 2012 to 2019. to say almost 5.00 km, everything is relative, as is 12 years of life locked up in england versus several life sentences in the usa. and about what is happening in american prisons, the world thanks to osanju, i learned that among the thousands of documents published in wikileaks about the atrocities of american security forces,

asansh flew to canbera from the northern mariana islands.se are remote american territories in the pacific ocean. there, an american judge, naturally, approved the deal between the wikileaks founder and the us department of justice. the espionage case, in which asanji faced 175 years in prison, has been officially dropped. the australian journalist left the meeting room on the island of saipan to cheers and applause. no official address or even a short comment to the press, and sansh did not answered how it feels to feel like a free person. silently gets into the car and leaves for the airport to fly home. the flight assange was on was the most tracked flight in the world today, according to flight radar. all western newspapers published on the front page a photograph of asanj, who looks hopefully into the future through the windows of the illuminati. it’s not... so rosy, and sanjeu will have to pay australia for government expenses on flights, the main whistleblower of the planet was banned from flying commercial by the court airlines, and

a 52-year-old australian man is heading to the northern mariana islands after spending the last 5 yearson in london. he is expected to plead guilty to one count of massively classified publication. exactly 12 years ago, julian entered the ecuadorian embassy, ​​where he was promised political asylum, protection from persecution , torture and life imprisonment. for 12 years i have been visiting jullion in a maximum security prison, but this period of our lives i am now confident has come to an end. assange was charged with eighteen counts in a 2019 indictment for his alleged role in breaking the law. in total, the maximum prison term could be 175 years. in 2010, the world was shocked by a large-scale leak of almost half a million secret documents. and videos of soldiers in iraq and afghanistan. the consequences of releasing these documents on the battlefield are potentially serious and dangerous for our armed forces. the man behind this leak, juliana sanche and his organization wikileaks obtained this classified information from chelsea mening, who was working as a military intelligence a

the wikileaks founder is heading for an american courtroom in the northern mariana islands, where, accordingo court documents, he'll plead guilty to a single felony charge under the espionage act. the agreement comes after years of intense diplomatic and political pressure by the australian government. >> we have been very clear on we have consistently stated that there is nothing to be served by the ongoing incarceration of mr. julian assange. >> under the plea deal, assange will be sentenced to time served, getting five years of credit for the time he spent in a british prison fighting extradition to the us. supporters say it was critical to get assange out because his health has been deteriorating. >> it's a pretty unpleasant prison and it's a prison for violent people. and so it was, i think, very distressing for him to be there. and i think it was rather cruel that he was there before being jailed in the uk, assange spent years in the ecuadorian embassy in london claiming political asylum. >> he was once feared by governments around the world for his ability to expose secrets, but now h

such an agreement must be legally formalized in the court of the northern mariana islands, this is theisdiction of the united states. asansh is scheduled to be there on wednesday. according to agence france-presse, the plane with journalists is now flying to bangkok, where in about half an hour it will refuel and fly to the maryan archipelago. while assange's exit on freedom was welcomed by his family and many politicians around the world, including the leaders of cuba, mexico, and colombia. the case against the australian was opened in the united states in 2010 after the wikileaks website published a huge number of files with information sensitive to washington. asansh was then working in sweden, then went to the uk, but when in 2012 there was a threat of his extradition to the states, he requested political asylum at the ecuadorian embassy in london and found himself in a trap to leave. the fire quickly engulfed the fifth to eighth floors, trapping everyone inside inside. eyewitnesses filmed heartbreaking footage of people breaking windows and calling for help. everything around was

commonwealth of the northern mariana islands, displayed on a sign at the pacific saipan airport.htfully out the window for a long time. hardly about this is the path to freedom he dreamed of all these 12 years. they leave the airfield together with the australian ambassador himself. district court, far from washington, asansh appears before the press in an unusual suit and tie. mr. asansh, do you want to say something to your supporters? only 25 journalists were allowed inside, it was impossible to film, because the historical moment, so humiliating for a supporter of complete freedom of the press, when asansh, as part of a deal with the american authorities, was forced to plead guilty to espionage, was not on camera. hit. 62 months behind bars. no, he did not express such a desire, we did not discuss this with him, he is just glad that he will become a free man again, 13 years have passed since all this began, he has... which he has not been able to do for many looking forward to spending time with his family, doing normal things, yo, listening to the birds singing, swimming in

and he is heading to the town of cyp pan on the northern mariana islands. this is a remote u.s. outpost where there is in fact a federal courts where a federal judge will on wednesday here, his guilty plea and approved this plea bargain, which involves we think a 62 month sentence, which will be considered time already served in belmarsh high security prison in the uk. so he well then be released if there's plea deal is as granted by this federal judge, and we'll go on to australia as so as i said, a result for his family, his supporters have a listen to his wife stella assange throughout the years of julian's imprisonment and persecution, an incredible movement has been formed. a movement of people from all walks of life, from around the world who support not just julian and not just us in our family but what julian stands for, truth and justice that is, of course the argument that you hear from his supporters that this was all about journalism, the pursuit of truth and justice, the releases over the years that we saw of many troves of data, highly classified diplomatic cables,

most remote courthouse, on the northern mariana islands.oad to freedom began this morning, on the way to a british airport. signing his plea deal documents and landing in bangkok, his first time outside of the united kingdom in 14 years. court documents reveal that assange will plead guilty a single felony, to receive and obtain documents, writings, and notes connected with the national defense, including such materials classified up to the secret level, and willfully communicate documents relating to the national defense. he will spend no time in u.s. jail. and more than 62 months spent in a british prison will count for time served, allowing him to return to his native australia, where prime minister anthony albanese today celebrated his release. >> regardless of the views that people have about mr. assange's activities, the case has dragged on for too long. there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration and we want him brought home to australia. >> the course of the war needs to change. nick: nearly 15 years ago, assange pr

federal court, in the northern mariana islands, he should be able to return to his home country of australia essentially walk free without serving any other additional time after that. and there are a lot of questions about why the u.s. government has agreed to this, the white house making clear that president biden was not involved in the justice department's decision to agree to this plea deal. but we also just heard on msnbc from julian assange's brother who explained why he thinks this decision happened now. take a listen. >> a lot of it was because of the australian government, the australian government has been advocating for julian with the biden administration, just a couple of months ago president biden was asked if he's considering the australian request to drop the charges against julian, he said, yes, we're considering it, so, that was a real acknowledgement of the progress that the australian government had made in their diplomatic efforts to bring julian home. >> we also heard today from julian assange's wife stella assange who has for all of the years that they have been marri

without luggage, was put on a private plane, which he had not ordered to be sent to the northern mariana islandsas slapped on the head. they demanded half a million dollars for jet sasanj's rent; he, who left prison 3 hours ago, did not have that kind of money with him, and the australian government paid for the flight on credit. wikileaks has opened a collection to pay off debt, rare wording, a charitable contribution to pay for a private plane, as well as for treatment. in one day, we collected more than half of the amount. it’s good that the british did not demand sasanj pay for six police escort vehicles and a helicopter. or compensation for increased prices for electricity in a prison cell or for guarding the ecuadorian embassy in london, where he was imprisoned from 2012 to 2019. during this time , the english bobbies protected the journalist for 10 million pounds. the americans even stated that they were not seeking confiscation of his property, you can make plans for your life. will asansh now quietly mind his own business in australia, or will he have something to say? i hope his life w

absolutely shocked that a deal with drug whereby julian would take display in the, in the northern mariana islands of all places. i had to actually look at a map today to. busy to figure out where the northern marianne is were. but this is really a great, great day for julian, for all of us who believe in transparency and holding government to account. i think julian would probably be the 1st person to say that as terrible and difficult as this fight was, it was worth it me of when it comes to the location for the hair and according to quote findings, the island was chosen by a song himself because he was willing to travel to the us mainland was also striking to me how um following stella as long as is um, social media. his wife's social media. she was encouraging or to be supportive and follow has to follow the flight plan and follow the flight. so that really is that lack of trust isn't that? oh yes, absolutely. a lack of trust. and what do you make of as it's as long as the decision not to go to the us mainland? well that was the sticking point, and it's been the sticking point for at least 6 o

they were 2 weeks founder is being moved to the northern mariana islands in the pacific where he's expected to plead guilty to violate us, as you know, as long as andras wanted for publishing classified us military files on the wiki, leach platform where she found it in 2006, he had been fighting extradition to the west in britain where he spent the past 5 years and a high security president may sondra is ultimate destination is australia, his home country. there's a little bit of what australian prime minister anthony albany usually have to say earlier about the apparent end of the assigned case. i've been very clear as by the live deleda, a in a position, but also as prime minister. that regardless of the views that people have about mr . assigns is activities, the crisis dragged on for too long to have the reporter and draw a dollar. i joined me earlier from sidney. i asked him for the latest on julian, a sondra being released he's on his way to the know the mariana islands, the northern barrier. uh, marietta islands or a territory of the united states. they like between australia and ja