Court and legal documents
The Assange Case: Legal Record
First published 5 February 2016 · US Department of Justice and the courts of England and Wales · 7 catalogued documents
The case against me, in the record: US charges, the English extradition fight, the UN opinion, and the 2024 plea.
Overview
The official papers from the case against me. Public records from courts, prosecutors and a UN body, not leaks.
They charged me with 18 counts. I spent five years in Belmarsh fighting extradition. On 26 June 2024, in a courthouse in the Northern Mariana Islands, I pleaded to one count under the Espionage Act. 62 months time served. Two days later the High Court discharged me.
What reporting revealed
- The 2019 superseding indictment charged me with 17 Espionage Act counts and one of computer-intrusion conspiracy.
- In January 2021 a district judge refused extradition on my mental health and suicide risk, and rejected everything else.
- The High Court reversed that in December 2021 after accepting US assurances on my conditions.
- In March 2024 the High Court found arguable grounds on free speech, nationality and the death penalty.
- I pleaded guilty in June 2024 to one count under 18 U.S.C. § 793(g) and was sentenced to time served.
Catalogue records
Entries describing the release and related documents, with provenance and sources.
| Published | Cat. no. | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-06-25 | FAN-0041 | United States v. Julian Paul Assange: plea agreement (District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, June 2024) Agreement under which I pleaded guilty in Saipan to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information and received a 62-month time-served sentence, ending the US case. | Plea agreement |
| 2024-03-26 | FAN-0040 | Assange v Government of the United States of America [2024] EWHC 700 (Admin) Divisional Court ruling on my renewed application for leave to appeal: six grounds refused, three – free speech, nationality and the death penalty – adjourned pending US assurances. | Court judgment |
| 2021-12-10 | FAN-0039 | Government of the United States of America v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin) Divisional Court judgment allowing the US appeal against my discharge after accepting diplomatic assurances on my conditions of detention, and directing that the case be sent to the Home Secretary. | Court judgment |
| 2021-01-04 | FAN-0038 | USA v Julian Assange: judgment of Westminster Magistrates' Court (4 January 2021) District Judge Vanessa Baraitser's ruling refusing the US extradition request because my mental condition and risk of suicide made extradition oppressive under section 91 of the Extradition Act 2003. | Court judgment |
| 2019-05-23 | FAN-0036 | United States v. Julian Paul Assange: 18-count superseding indictment (May 2019) Superseding indictment of 23 May 2019 charging me with 17 Espionage Act offences and one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion over the 2010 disclosures by Chelsea Manning. | Indictment |
| 2019-04-11 | FAN-0035 | United States v. Julian Paul Assange: indictment (March 2018) Sealed one-count indictment returned in the Eastern District of Virginia in March 2018 charging me with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion; unsealed on the day of my arrest in London. | Indictment |
| 2016-02-05 | FAN-0026 | UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 54/2015 (Julian Assange) Opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finding that my deprivation of liberty by Sweden and the United Kingdom was arbitrary; made public on 5 February 2016 and rejected by both governments. | UN legal opinion |
Source
- The Assange Case: Legal Record — original release — justice.gov (Original publication)justice.gov