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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has walked away as a free man after pleading guilty to a US espionage charge. Assange walked free from Saipan Court, located in the Pacific Island territory of Saipan. The 14-year-long legal battle finally ended, and Assange is free to return home to Australia.
Saipan is the smallest and most remote federal district court in the US. The Justice Department had agreed to hold the hearing on the remote island of Saipan due to Assange’s opposition to traveling to the US mainland and because of its closeness to Australia.
What Did Julian Assange Do?
Assange founded the WikiLeaks website, which publishes confidential leaked documents from sources such as the US government, corporations, emails, etc. A federal jury in Virginia indicted Assange in 2019 on many charges, alleging he had illegally obtained classified documents about America’s war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The jury also alleged that Assange had published the classified document on WikiLeaks.
Some of WikiLeaks’ most significant classified files include a video of gunfire from a US helicopter killing civilians in Iraq, documents of US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and emails from top Democrats.
The Deal Between Julian Assange And The US
It was a deal between Julian Assange and the US that let him walk free. The Saipan court accepted a plea deal between Assange and the US government. The deal required Assange to admit guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US defense documents. In return, he was sentenced to time, which he already served in London prison.
The release of Julian Assange ended a 14-year legal battle. Assange had to spend five years in high-security Belmarsh prison in London and seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, battling extradition to the US. In the US, Assange faces 18 criminal charges.
The chief US district judge, Ramona V. Manglona, accepted Assange’s guilty plea and released him without any supervisory period or financial penalty because of time already served in London prison.
After the hearing, the US government withdrew its extradition request from the UK. The US government also dropped all the remaining charges pending in the US. The US government banned Julian Assange from returning to the US without permission.
Assange Heads Home To Australia
After the hearing, Julian Assange headed straight to the airport to return to Australia. WikiLeaks said Assange would travel to Canberra, where he would reunite with his family. John Shipton, Assange’s father, was in a decade-long campaign to free his son. Assange’s father said to Reuters, “My faith has never, ever, ever died. That Julian can come home to Australia and see his family regularly and do the ordinary things of life is a treasure.”