Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has pleaded guilty and will admit that he "leaked U.S. military secrets" so that he can regain his freedom and return to his native Australia. Reporters have already photographed Assange, a self-taught Australian genius hacker from the 80s, arriving at the plea hearing and being rushed into the courthouse without saying a word in the face of reporters' questions.
The venue for the hearings was apparently also wrestling, and finally settled on Saipan, an overseas territory of the United States, under the jurisdiction of the United States, but close to Australia. Assange chose to plead guilty here, apparently not fearing extradition back to the United States for trial.
Assange caused an international sensation that year by publishing a series of documents, including the war logs in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, and 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables. He was arrested in the UK, then fled on bail to seek asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he spent seven years running WikiLeaks.
Although living in the embassy was limited and he did not have access to proper medical care, he was at least a free man, but in 19 years the Ecuadorian government revoked Assange's asylum and the British police entered the embassy and arrested him, after which Assange spent more than five years in a small cell in a high-security prison.
Assange is expected to return directly to Australia as a free man after pleading guilty.
