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upstart [soylentnews.org] writes:

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Live: Father of Julian Assange hints at son's return to Australia after prison release - ABC News [abc.net.au]:

Is this freedom permanent?

Are we celebrating too early? Does the court have to accept the please deal, or increase the sentence? if they don't that would leave him is US custody

- Coz

Nothing is certain until it happens and there's a lot we still don't know about how Julian Assange's case will proceed.

A lot of our understanding at this stage is coming from the court documents, which state that he'll appear before a judge in Saipan at 9am local time tomorrow.

An email from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the judge in the Northern Mariana Islands states that Assange is expected to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, and that he'll be sentenced for that offence.

American media outlets are reporting that the plea deal would need to be approved by the judge, and WikiLeaks has described the agreement as having "not yet been formally finalised."

But Assange's departure from the UK is a massive development in the case, and the court document says the DOJ expects he'll return to Australia "at the conclusion of the proceedings".

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