Why Julian Assange's final court hearing will be on a remote Pacific island

Assange was en route to a courtroom on the island where he is expected to plead guilty in a plea deal that will see him walk free and return home to Australia

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's 14-year legal odyssey will end on the tropical Pacific island of Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth.

On Tuesday, the plane carrying Assange landed in Thailand's capital Bangkok for refueling, the Associated Press reported.

The WikiLeaks founder was on his way to enter a plea deal with the US government. The deal will free Assange and bring an end to a legal case, which has spanned years and continents, over the publication of a trove of classified documents.

Citing officials, the Associated Press reported that Assange's chartered flight from London would continue on to Saipan, where Reuters reports that Assange will appear in court at 9 am local time on Wednesday.

What's next for Assange?

Citing United States (US) prosecutors, the Reuters report said that in exchange for a sentence of 62 months already served, Assange has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.

US prosecutors told the news agency that if Assange's plea is approved by the judge, he is expected to return to his home country of Australia after the hearing.

Why is Assange going to Saipan?

Assange's hearing is taking place in Saipan because he wanted to go to a court close to his home of Australia but not in the continental US, US prosecutors told news agencies.

Saipan is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a US commonwealth in the western Pacific and stretches across 14 islands.

 

Like in the case of other territories such as Guam or Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands are part of the US, but they do not enjoy the full status of a state.

However, with regard to Assange's case, Saipan happens to host a US district court.

In essence, because Assange is facing charges brought under US law, the location of the legal proceedings had to be the US territory closest to Australia, without being a US state like Hawaii.

Saipan is located relatively close to Australia, which is roughly 3,000 kilometres south. Meanwhile, Hawaii is more than twice as far away.

If Assange's guilty plea is approved by a judge in Saipan, it will bring to close a criminal case that has seen the US government spend years pursuing the founder of WikiLeaks, the hugely popular secret-sharing website.

While many press freedom advocates hold the view that Assange acted as a journalist to expose US military wrongdoing, the US government alleges that his actions put the country's national security at risk.

(With input from Reuters and The Associated Press)