Julian Assange's lawyers say 'no indication' of US considering dropping 18 espionage charges
WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
The United States government is reportedly considering a plea deal offer to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange but his lawyersin a statement have said that there are "no indication" Washington will move forward towards leniency against Assange.
According to aWall Street Journal report,the US Justice Department has been looking at ways for WikiLeaksin 2010 of thousands of classified US documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
What is reportedly the US leniency plan for Julian Assange?
The report claimed that a planunder consideration would be to drop the current 18 charges under the Espionage Act under the conditionthat Assange pleaded guilty to mishandling classified documents.
The report further claims that Assange has already spent five years in custody in the UK. It alsoclaimsthat he would likely be freed soon if the deal is agreed upon.
However, Assange’s legal team said they were not aware of this development.
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Also watch |WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradition case returns to UK Court
One of Assange’s defence attorneys, Barry Pollack, said in a statement: "It is inappropriate for Assange’s lawyers to comment while his case is before the UK high court other than to say we have been given no indication that the Department of Justice intends to resolve the case and the United States is continuing with as much determination as ever to seek his extradition on all 18 charges, exposing him to 175 years in prison."
What next?
A court in London will decide in the coming weeks whether to grant Assange a further right to appeal his extradition. He is being held in the high-security Belmarsh prison.
He was said to be too sick to go to the Royal Courts of Justice to attend the most recent hearing last month.
If the two judges ruleagainst Assange, he would have exhausted all UK options to challenge the extradition, and the sole remaining avenue open to him would be the European Court of Human Rights.
That court could potentially order the UK not to go ahead with the extradition until it hasheard the case.
(With inputs from agencies)