WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange became a “free man” today, Wednesday, after he concluded a plea deal with the American judiciary that ended a judicial and media saga that lasted about 14 years.
At the conclusion of a quick hearing during which the Australian citizen appeared before the Federal Court in Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, where he pleaded guilty to the charge of “conspiracy to obtain and disseminate information relating to national defense,” Judge Ramona V. Manglona said, “With this plea, it appears that you will be able to leave this courtroom.” A free man.”
Assange will not have the right to return to the United States without permission, as the US Department of Justice explained in a statement.
According to the agreement he concluded with the American judiciary, the 52-year-old former information expert, who has been under arrest since the publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of secret American documents, admitted that he obtained and published this secret information about the American national defense.
“I encouraged my source,” the US military officer Chelsea Manning, who was behind this massive leak, “to provide me with classified materials,” Assange said during the session.
Assange appeared clearly tired during his appearance before the court, but at the same time he was comfortable.
An Agence France-Presse journalist reported that Assange, who was wearing a black suit and yellow tie, quickly embraced his two lawyers and signed a book for one of his supporters.
He then left the court under the cameras without making any statement.
Jennifer Robinson, from his lawyer team, said: “This is a historic day that brings an end to 14 years of legal battles.”
Assange immediately boarded a private plane that took off from the Northern Mariana Islands, a small American territory in the Pacific Ocean, heading to Canberra, the capital of Australia, where he is expected to arrive in the evening.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the agreement that led to Assange’s release, saying, “I am very pleased with this occasion. It was a very successful result that all Australians are waiting for.”
Assange’s wife, Stella, said: “The priority now is for Julian to recover. He has been in a terrible situation for five years and wants to be close to nature.”
One of his lawyers, Barry Pollack, said: “(Assange) suffered greatly in his fight for freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”
Assange left the United Kingdom on Monday, where he had been imprisoned for five years, to appear before the Saipan Federal Court after accepting to go to trial, pleading guilty.
According to the agreement with the judiciary, Assange is no longer being prosecuted except on charges of “conspiracy to obtain and disseminate information related to national defense.”
He was sentenced to 62 months in prison, which he had spent mainly during the five years in his British prison.
During his appearance before the court, Assange was accompanied by Kevin Rudd, the former Australian Prime Minister and current ambassador to Washington.
– A call for donations – Stella Assange, a South African lawyer, launched a call for donations to pay the amount of $520,000 that her husband must pay to the Australian government for the plane he chartered to transport him to Australia.
She confirmed via X: “He was not allowed to board a commercial flight.”
The Northern Mariana Islands court was chosen because of Assange’s refusal to go to the mainland of the United States and because of the proximity of these islands to Australia, according to a document submitted in court.
The United Nations welcomed his release, considering that the case raised “a series of human rights concerns.”
Christine Assange, the mother of the WikiLeaks founder, said: “I am grateful that my son’s suffering has come to an end.”
Former US Vice President Mike Pence considered the agreement “a miscarriage of justice… that belittles the service and sacrifice of men and women in our armed forces.”
The agreement puts an end to a legal process that has been going on for nearly 14 years.