The US government is reportedly considering offering a plea deal to Julian Assange, allowing him to admit wrongdoing, but his lawyers claim they have been given "no warning" that Washington intends to change its approach, writes the British "Guardian".
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the U.S. Justice Department is considering how to shorten the lengthy trial in London of the WikiLeaks founder's extradition to the U.S. on espionage charges for publishing thousands of classified U.S. documents 14 years ago. for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The plan under consideration is said to be to drop the current 18 charges under the Espionage Act if Assange were to plead guilty to improperly handling classified documents, a misdemeanor. Assange could reach a deal from London and be free soon after, having already spent five years in custody in the UK.
Assange's legal team said they are not aware of any changes in the prosecution strategy.
Britain's High Court is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether to grant Assange a further right to appeal. Assange, who is being held at the high-security Belmarsh prison, was reportedly in too poor a state of health to attend the latest hearing at the Crown Court there last month.
If the two judges rule against him, Assange would have exhausted all options in Britain to fight extradition, and the only avenue left open to him would be the European Court of Human Rights, which could order Britain not to proceed with extradition until the court consider the case. If that doesn't work, Assange could be taken to the US within a few days, writes "Guardian".
Extradition of Assange would be a political challenge for the Biden administration, especially in an election year. The previous Democratic administration, under Barack Obama, ultimately decided not to indict Assange for fear that it would infringe on First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of the press, so the Trump administration did in 2019.
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