WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is headed to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands to plead guilty in a deal with US authorities that will leave him a free man. This unexpected turn of events will see Assange, who has been facing espionage charges, released from prison and likely returning to his home country, Australia.
The Northern Mariana Islands, a small, remote US territory in the Western Pacific, is strategically located in close proximity to Australia. This proximity is likely a key factor in the decision to hold Assange’s plea deal in Saipan, considering his opposition to traveling to the continental United States.
Assange will appear before a US judge at a court in Saipan, the largest island in the archipelago, home to 90 percent of its 51,000 population. The 52-year-old has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information. He is expected to be sentenced to five years and two months in prison, with credit for the same amount of time he spent behind bars in Britain.
It’s important to note that while people from the Northern Mariana Islands are US citizens, they hold different rights to people from the 50 states. They cannot vote in presidential elections, similar to other US territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.
Saipan’s history is marked by war and colonization. Colonized by Spain in 1668, the archipelago suffered a devastating loss of its indigenous population due to war and disease. Following the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States took control of Guam but sold the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands to Germany. Japan later took administration in the early 20th century, bringing in thousands of laborers and using the islands as a launchpad for the invasion of Guam during World War II. The United States ultimately captured the territory in 1944 during the Battle of Saipan.
Despite its tumultuous past, Saipan today is a popular tropical destination, drawing tourists from China and South Korea, particularly for surfing, scuba diving, and enjoying the year-round warm temperatures of around 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). The islands are also located near and share a name with the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point in the world’s oceans, a site of enduring fascination for scientists and explorers.
However, the Northern Mariana Islands are not without their challenges. The islands rely heavily on energy imports, and the archipelago is prone to natural disasters, including active volcanoes and typhoon season from July to January. The territory was devastated by Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018, the strongest typhoon ever to hit the Mariana Islands and the second strongest ever to strike the United States.
