Julian Assange Freed After Accepting US Plea Deal
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing US military secrets on June 26 in a deal with US prosecutors that secures his freedom.
It brings to an end a years-long legal battle that raised questions about press freedom and national security.
The criminal case, which had made the news across the world, came to a surprise end in an unusual place with Assange, 52, entering his plea in a US district court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The American territory in the Pacific is relatively close to Assange's native Australia and accommodated his desire to avoid entering the continental United States.
The deal required the internet publisher to admit guilt to a single criminal charge but also permitted him to return to Australia without any time in an American prison.
The judge sentenced him to the five years he'd already spent behind bars in the UK, fighting extradition to the United States on a charge that could have carried a long prison sentence in the event of a conviction. He spent seven years before that in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
He smiled slightly as the judge imposed the sentence, pronouncing him a "free man."
The end of the case allows both sides to feel some satisfaction.
However, Jennifer Robinson, one of Assange's lawyers, told reporters after the hearing that the case "sets a dangerous precedent that should be a concern to journalists everywhere."
"It's a huge relief to Julian Assange, to his family, to his friends, to his supporters and to us — to everyone who believes in free speech around the world — that he can now return home to Australia and be reunited with his family," she said.
The criminal case, brought by the Trump administration Justice Department, centers on the receipt and publication of hundreds of thousands of war logs and private diplomatic messages that included details of US military failings in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange's supporters celebrated him as a man who fought for transparency while opponents said his actions put lives at risk.
