Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is expected to make an appearance in the U.S. District Court for the NMI here on Saipan on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

The charges against Assange stem from one of the largest publications of classified information in American history in 2009.

On Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time on Saipan, the world’s eyes will be on the U.S. District Court for the Northern Marianas, where Assange is expected to plead guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the U.S.

It's part of a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department, allowing him to return to Australia, his country of citizenship, and avoid imprisonment in the U.S. he could be given credit for time already served in the UK.

Early Tuesday, Wikileaks posted to X that Assange boarded a plane and departed the United Kingdom. He’s expected to arrive in Saipan in the coming hours ahead of his court hearing.

Many residents on the island asked why the district court on Saipan was chosen. In a letter to the court from the DOJ, they wrote it is “in light of the defendant’s opposition to traveling to the continental U.S. to enter his guilty plea and the proximity of this federal U.S. district court to the defendant’s country of citizenship.”

Meantime, Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange, said in a video message released on Today that she was confident her husband’s imprisonment “has come to an end”, after he reached a deal with the U.S. government in which he will plead guilty to criminal charges and be freed.

Speaking outside Belmarsh prison in the UK where Assange was released on Monday, Stella and Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson thanked all those who supported Julian Assange and his cause.

“Things are moving very quickly and it's very difficult for us to plan or even play out the next few hours and days. But if everything goes well, Julian will be on a plane on the way to freedom,” said Stella.

“The cost of Julian, of course, has been to be deprived of freedom for all these years in the battle for journalistic freedom, freedom to publish foundation of democracy,” added Hrafnsson

Assange was indicted during former President Donald Trump's administration over Wikileaks' mass release of secret U.S. documents, which were leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Military Intelligence Analyst who was also prosecuted under the Espionage Act.

Again, the 52-year-old has agreed to plead guilty and is due to be sentenced at a hearing on Saipan. He is expected to face no new prison time.