“You will be able to leave this courtroom a free man,” Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona of the court in Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, told WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who had arrived in the territory for his final police hearing, which closes the long period of US persecution against him for more than 14 years.
The agreement established with the State Department included appearing in court at 9:00 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday and pleading guilty to accusations of leaking “documents, writings and notes related to national defense, including materials considered secret.” Assange was initially charged with 18 counts and faced up to 175 years in prison under the Espionage Law, La Jornada indicates.
Imprisoned for the past five years in a maximum-security British prison, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of publishing US military secrets in 2010-2011, in particular the Pentagon’s military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Journalist Pedro Miguel, from the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, has published a version of the dialogue that took place in court and which he put together with testimonies from Thomas Mangloña TV, Jonathan Head and messages from journalist David Brooks.
This is how he tells it:
Assange arrives at the Saipan court. When Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona asks him what he had done to commit the crime for which he was charged, he replies:
«Working as a journalist I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified so that that information could be published. I think the First Amendment protected that activity…”
And adds:
“I think the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are at odds with each other, but I accept that it would be difficult to win such a case under the circumstances.”
His lawyer states:
“I think the court is aware that Mr Assange has already suffered significant consequences, including when we talk about his time at Belmarsh… we believe… that no further imprisonment is warranted and a sentence of time served is appropriate.”
The prosecution states that there is no “personal victim,” so the action did not result in any known physical injury.
The judge dictates:
“Given the factual basis that explains the entire saga of events that forms the basis of this very serious espionage charge against you, I am sentencing you to a period of time served. I am not imposing any period of probation.”
And concludes:
«You will be able to leave this room a free man.
With that, Mr Assange, I wish you a happy early birthday; I understand your birthday is next week. [Julian nació el 3 de julio]. I hope he starts his new life in a positive way.
The prosecution immediately withdraws the extradition request.
Julian Assange hugs his companions and shakes hands with his lawyers McKenzie and Anderson. Tears flow from his eyes as the court adjourns.
