Canberra/The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, arrived this Wednesday in Canberra on a private plane after having formalized the pact for his freedom before a judge in the Mariana Islands (USA), after spending five years imprisoned in the United Kingdom and almost another seven refugees in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
After being officially released, Assange appeared briefly in front of dozens of television cameras waiting for him outside the federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. He waved briefly to reporters before getting into a vehicle, without making any statements.
Inside court, Assange pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified US documents, and in return, Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona handed down a sentence allowing him to return to Australia “as a free man.” .
“With this decision, it seems that he will be able to leave this courtroom free. I hope this will contribute to restoring some peace,” commented the judge.
“With this decision, it appears that he will be able to leave this courtroom free. I hope this will help restore some peace,” the judge said in delivering the verdict, showing gestures of courtesy towards Assange, even wishing him a “happy birthday in advance” because he will turn 53 on July 3.
The judge accepted the terms agreed between the Department of Justice and Assange’s defense, sentencing him to 62 months in prison, but granting him credit for time already served in the high-security Belmarsh prison (United Kingdom), which resulted in his officially released.
When handing down the sentence, the judge said she had considered, among other factors, the period of imprisonment of former soldier Chelsea Manning, Assange’s main source in the WikiLeaks leak, who was in prison between 2010 and 2017, when her sentence was commuted. by then-President Barack Obama.
The crime to which Assange pleaded guilty, for conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US documents, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, but thanks to the agreement he will avoid more time behind bars.
During the hearing, Assange maintained a serious face, although he seemed to get slightly emotional when the judge said when handing down the sentence: “It seems that this case ends with me here in Saipan,” according to the British newspaper. The Guardian.
Assange, however, also carried out several acts of rebellion that revived the tension between press freedom and national security, central aspects of the case.
Assange kept a serious face, although he seemed to become slightly emotional when the judge said in handing down the sentence: “It seems that this case ends with me here in Saipan.”
On two occasions, when the judge asked him how he pleaded to the charges, the Australian responded: “Guilty of the information”, an unusual statement for these proceedings, according to reports. Guardian and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Furthermore, the founder of WikiLeaks defended his journalistic work, arguing that it should be protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of the press and which, in his opinion, contradicts the Espionage Act of 1917, by which He was sentenced.
After the hearing, his lawyers held a brief press conference outside the courthouse and his lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, stated that these types of proceedings “establish a dangerous precedent” that should “worry journalists everywhere.”
The hearing was held without television cameras in a US federal courtroom located on the island of Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean.
The Australian’s defense requested that the hearing be held in this location due to its proximity to Australia and because Assange did not wish to travel to the continental United States.
This episode ends a 14-year saga that began in 2010 with the largest leak of classified documents in US history, questioning Washington’s role in the world by revealing attacks on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the mistreatment of prisoners in Guantánamo, among other issues.
The largest leak of classified documents in US history questioned Washington’s role in the world by revealing attacks on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the mistreatment of prisoners in Guantánamo
Following the leak, Sweden issued an arrest warrant on sexual assault charges, which were later dropped. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, until he was arrested by British authorities in 2019, spending the last five years in a high-security prison.
Assange is scheduled to hold a press conference in Australia and meet with his wife, Stella, and their two children.
As a curiosity, the private aircraft in which he travels achieved global notoriety for transporting Taylor Swift from Tokyo to the United States for the Super Bowl in February. Wikileaks has already managed to raise half of what it cost to move it, since Assange was required not to travel on a commercial flight.
