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Julian Assange has “paid his dues” over his WikiLeaks disclosures, according to the former US director of national intelligence. Assange left the UK on Monday after his release from prison following a plea deal brokered with US authorities. Court papers filed by the US Justice Department show Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information. The US Justice Department has agreed to drop 18 espionage charges against him – instead charging him only with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. The journalist will be sentenced to 62 months in prison, with the five years he has spent incarcerated in HMP Belmarsh counting towards that period. James Clapper, who was US director of national intelligence when Assange leaked documents in 2010, told CNN: “I actually think this came out pretty well… critical to this was his plea of
