The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has stated he will turn himself in to U.S authorities under the condition that Chelsea Manning receives clemency.
“If Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to U.S. prison in exchange—despite its clear unlawfulness,” WikiLeaks Tweeted in a Tweet that linked to a document that called for more transparency in the U.S Justice Department’s investigation in WikiLeaks.
Chelsea Manning is currently serving a 35-year prison for her part in leaking classified information to WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange has been held up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012. Despite the Swedish government’s repeated calls for his arrest over allegations of rape, Assange has refused to leave for fear of deportation.
At present, sources don’t believe that the U.S. is really after Julian Assange for criminal charges.
“It’s possible, of course, that the U.S. government has already obtained an indictment against Mr. Assange for violating laws concerning the disclosure of classified information (and that such an indictment remains sealed), but there’s certainly no public evidence that he currently faces charges—and so no obvious explanation for what ‘turning himself in’ would accomplish,” Stephen Vladeck, a professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, told Fortune in an email.
Without any charges, Julian Assange could only feasibly be held for 48 hours, unless officials started immigration proceedings against him that proved he was dangerous.
It seems as though the offer from WikiLeaks exchanging Julian Assange for Chelsea Manning is an empty one at this time.
