WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange finally released, US court approves deal

A US court has approved the agreement between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the US judiciary in connection with espionage charges and approved his release. The BBC and the British Guardian reported this unanimously from the courtroom on the Marianas island of Saipan, a US territory in the Pacific, on Wednesday (local time). Accordingly, the 52-year-old will be released in exchange for pleading guilty after serving his sentence in Great Britain. According to journalists present, the judge in charge, Ramona Manglona, ​​said that Assange “can leave the courtroom as a free man.”

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Assange is the protagonist of a major espionage scandal. In 2006, the Australian founded the WikiLeaks platform with the mission of supporting whistleblowers and bringing hidden information to light. Since 2010, WikiLeaks has published secret materials of US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The United States then accused Assange of stealing secret materials and publishing them, thereby endangering the lives of American informants.

USA threatens 175 years in prison

For a long time, the US judiciary wanted to prosecute Assange on charges of espionage. He could have been jailed for up to 175 years in the US. Instead, he recently negotiated a deal with the US judiciary and has now pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally obtain and distribute secret documents. Judge Manglona determined According to the BBC And the Guardian said the sentence would be on top of time the internet activist would already have served in a high-security prison in London.

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The justice agreement spared Assange from trial and potentially further imprisonment in the United States. The United States had previously requested his extradition from Great Britain. Instead, the 52-year-old can now return to his homeland. From Saipan he wanted to fly directly to Australia on Wednesday WikiLeaks announced on the X platform. So the court hearings were held not on the US mainland, but in a remote US territory. The Northern Mariana Islands are just a few hours’ flight north of Australia.

Legal battle ends after years of harassment and imprisonment

Assange was released from custody in London on Monday while shielded from the public eye and left Great Britain on a chartered plane to attend the court hearing on the Pacific island. After a stopover in the Thai capital Bangkok, he flew to Saipan for the hearing.

It is a bold end to a years-long journey marked by multiple legal battles. Assange began his imprisonment in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison nearly five years ago. Before his arrest in April 2019, he had been evading law enforcement officials for seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. They initially targeted him because of rape allegations in Sweden. However, these charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

While the United States has been seeking Assange’s extradition for years, human rights organisations, journalists’ unions, artists and politicians have called for his immediate release. The Australian government also campaigned for the release of its citizen.

(FDS)