Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is finally free, US court approves deal
The years-long saga surrounding Wikileaks founder Julian Assange ends with a justice deal and a grand finale on a remote island in the Pacific.
Julian Assange on the plane on his way to court
(Image: Wikileaks)
A US court has approved the deal between Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and the American judiciary in connection with espionage allegations and sealed his release. This was reported unanimously by the BBC and the British Guardian on Wednesday (local time) from the courtroom on the Mariana Island of Saipan, a US territory in the Pacific. According to the report, the 52-year-old will be released in return for a guilty plea after having already served his sentence in the UK. According to the reporters present, the judge in charge, Ramona Manglona, said that Assange could "leave the courtroom a free man".
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. From 2010 onwards, Wikileaks published secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The USA subsequently accused Assange of stealing and publishing secret material, thereby endangering the lives of US whistleblowers.
USA threatened with 175 years in prison
For a long time, the American judiciary wanted to try Assange on espionage charges. He would have faced up to 175 years in prison in the USA. Instead, however, he negotiated a deal with the US judiciary and has now pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified documents. According to the BBC and Guardian, Judge Manglona stipulated that the sentence would be based on the time the internet activist had already served in a high-security prison in London.
The judicial deal means that Assange will be spared a trial and potentially further imprisonment in the USA. The United States had previously demanded his extradition from the UK. Instead, the 52-year-old can now return to his home country. From Saipan, he wanted to travel directly to Australia on Wednesday, as Wikileaks announced on the X platform. The court hearing was therefore not held on the American mainland, but in the remote US territory. The Northern Mariana Islands are only a few hours' flight north of Australia.
End of legal battles after years of persecution and imprisonment
Assange was released from custody in London on Monday, unnoticed by the public and left the UK on a chartered plane to attend the court hearing on the Pacific island. After a stopover in the Thai capital Bangkok, he flew on to Saipan for the hearing.
It is the adventurous end to a year-long odyssey with many legal battles. Assange began his imprisonment in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London around five years ago. Before his arrest in April 2019, he had spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, evading law enforcement authorities. They had initially targeted him over allegations of rape in Sweden. However, these accusations were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
While the USA demanded Assange's extradition for years, human rights organizations, journalists' associations, artists and politicians called for his immediate release. The Australian government also campaigned for the release of its citizen.
(fds)