Julian Assange plea deal hearing begins
Julian Assange faced court in the Mariana Islands
The plea deal hearing for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange began on Wednesday in a courtroom on the US Pacific island territory of Saipan where
he is expected to walk free after a deal with US prosecutors.
Assange, 52, faced faced court in the US territory after he was released from the UK's Belmarsh Prison on Monday.
Under the plea deal, he is set to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served in the UK and ultimately return to his home country, Australia.
If all goes as expected, it will bring to a close a legal saga that spanned more than a decade, and which included seven years seeking asylum inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
More to follow...
zc/jsi (AP, AFP, Retuers)