Julian Assange has accepted a plea bargain according to which he will be sentenced to the timehe has already spent in Belmarch prison. (One charge has been filed already by the US for himto plead guilty to.) He is now supposed to go to the Mariana Islands (near Guam) to pleadguilty and besentencedto "time served", and then leave for Australia.

ReportedlyAustralia'ssupport for Assange played a major part in convincing the US to agree to this deal.

I am very glad for Assange for being out of prison, but I am alarmed that the danger of beingtreated similarly will face other journalists and publishers in the future. If the US hadprosecuted the perpetrators of the actions in the "collateral murder" video, none of this wouldhave been necessary.

The plea deal requires approval from the judge. I wonder what will happen to Assange if thejudge declines to accept the deal. Could he be sent to a US prison to await trial?