CERL Executive Board member Mark Zaid spoke with John Vause of Chattanooga Local 3 News in light of whistleblower Julian Assange’s recent agreement to a plea deal on Monday. Assange, whose plea deal could allow him to avoid prison time in the U.S. with time served, spent $500,000 to travel to remote U.S. territory Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands upon his release from British prison.

“There was some degree of paranoia as to whether or not if we brought him to northern Virginia in the suburbs of D.C., which is the court where he was indicted, that somehow he’d be thrown away in a prison, and the deal would be off,” said Zaid. “This is a way to bring him closer to home in Australia, finish off the plea deal, and then let him travel back home.”

Julian Assange is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. on Wednesday for sentencing in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Mark S. Zaid, Esq., is a Washington, D.C. based attorney who specializes in crisis management and innovatively handling simple and complex administrative and litigation matters primarily relating to national security, international law, foreign sovereign and diplomatic immunity, and the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts. He is a member of CERL’s Executive Board. Read his bio here. 

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.