The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has reached a plea agreement with the American justice system under the terms of which he will be free after years of detention in the United Kingdom, according to court documents made public on the night of Monday 24 to Tuesday June 25.
Pursued by the American authorities for having disclosed hundreds of thousands of confidential documents, the Australian must appear before a federal court in the Mariana Islands, an American territory in the Pacific. He should plead guilty to “conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information”according to these documents.
A hearing is scheduled in the archipelago on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. (local time) to determine the sentencing of Julian Assange. The latter should be given a prison sentence of 62 months, a detention he has already served, and should leave the court free, which would allow him to return to his native Australia.
“Julian’s freedom is our freedom”
“Julian Assange is free” and left the United Kingdom and the high security prison near London on Monday where he had been incarcerated for five years, WikiLeaks said after the announcement of this agreement. According to WikiLeaks, the 52-year-old Australian left Belmarsh prison on Monday morning then was released by British justice at London’s Stansted airport in the afternoon, from where he boarded a plane and left the United Kingdom.
“WikiLeaks has published unprecedented information about government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful to account for their actionsa poursuivi WikiLeaks. As editor, Julian paid severely for these principles and for the people’s right to know. »
Read the editorial of “Le Monde” | End the harassment against Julian Assange
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“As he returns to Australia, we thank everyone who supported us, who fought for us and who remained fully committed to the fight for his freedom”added WikiLeaks, concluding: “Julian’s freedom is our freedom”. “After more than five years in a two-by-three meter cell, isolated for 23 hours a day, he will soon be reunited with his wife Stella and their two children, who only knew their father behind bars”WikiLeaks further emphasized.
“Julian is free!!! »exulted his wife, believing that “words are not enough to express our immense gratitude” towards those who mobilized ” For years “ so that his liberation becomes ” reality “.
The Australian government also welcomed this outcome, believing that the Assange affair had “dragged on for too long” and that his continued detention no longer presented any interest.
More than 700,000 confidential documents revealed
This agreement, which puts an end to a saga of almost fourteen years, comes two weeks before a new crucial hearing before the British courts. This was to examine, on July 9 and 10, Julian Assange’s appeal against his extradition to the United States.
Detained since 2019 in a high security prison in London, he is fighting not to be handed over to American justice, which is pursuing him for having made public, from 2010, more than 700,000 confidential documents on military and diplomatic activities Americans, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among these documents is a video showing civilians, including two Reuters journalists, killed by fire from an American combat helicopter in Iraq in July 2007. He theoretically faced up to 175 years in prison under American espionage law.
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The British government approved his extradition in June 2022. The latest twist in this affair which has become a symbol for its supporters of the threats to press freedom, in May two British judges granted Julian Assange the right to appeal against his extradition. .
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers The extradition of Julian Assange suspended to a final decision by the judges, after two days of hearing
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The founder of WikiLeaks was arrested by British police in April 2019 after seven years spent in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, in order to avoid extradition to Sweden in a rape investigation, dismissed the same year.
Since then, calls have increased for US President Joe Biden to drop the charges against him. Australia made a formal request to this effect in February, which Mr. Biden said he was considering, raising hope among his supporters.
