Julian Assange released, here is what the agreement with the American justice system which led to this decision contains

INTERNATIONAL – The end of a legal saga which lasted 14 years. Australian whistleblower Julian Assange is now free, thanks to an agreement reached with the American justice system, this Wednesday, June 26. “You will be able to leave this courtroom a free man”Judge Ramona V. Manglona addressed him at the end of a quick hearing at the American federal court in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The whistleblower left the United Kingdom on Monday, where he had been imprisoned for five years, to be tried before the federal court in Saipan, after having accepted the principle of a guilty plea. Under the terms of this agreement, he was only prosecuted on the sole charge of “ conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information”.

Wikileaks founder finally pleads guilty

In accordance with the agreement reached with the courts, the 52-year-old former computer scientist, accused of having published hundreds of thousands of confidential American documents in the 2010s, pleaded guilty to obtaining and disclosing information on the National Defense.

“I encouraged my source”the American soldier Chelsea Manning, at the origin of this massive leak, “ to provide material that was classified”, recognized a tired but visibly relaxed Julian Assange on Wednesday at the bar. Chelsea Manning was previously sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years in prison, but released after seven years after her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama.

Julian Assange was ultimately sentenced to 62 months in prison, already covered by the five years served in pre-trial detention. The founder of WikiLeaks will not, however, have the right to return to the United States without authorization, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.

Following the decision of the American courts, Julian Assange hugged his two lawyers and signed a book for one of his supporters. He then left the court in full view of the cameras, without making a statement. “ Today is a historic day. It brings to an end 14 years of legal battles.”welcomed one of his lawyers, Jennifer Robinson.

The United Nations welcomed this release, saying that the case had raised “ a series of human rights concerns ». Conversely, former US Vice President Mike Pence described the agreement as “ false justice » Who “ dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our armed forces.”.

Seventeen charges dropped

The agreement between the whistleblower and the American justice system came as the British justice system was due to examine on July 9 and 10 an appeal by Assange against his extradition to the United States, approved by the British government in June 2022.

Julian Assange was fighting not to be handed over to American justice which was pursuing him for having made public since 2010 more than 700,000 confidential documents on American military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Among these documents is a video showing civilians, including a Reuters journalist and his driver, killed by fire from an American combat helicopter in Iraq in July 2007. Targeted by 18 charges, Julian Assange faced theoretically up to 175 years in prison under the Espionage Act.

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