Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, pleaded guilty to one charge of publishing classified military information in the United States. The plea agreement was reached between his defense attorneys and the Justice Department’s prosecutors, securing his release and ending a long legal battle that raised contentious arguments about both press freedom and national security.
“Is it satisfactory or not?”, He later asked the judge jokingly during the hearing.
In a US Pacific territory called Northern Mariana Islands. Assange was dress in a black suit with an ochre tie having slicked back hair when he attended this meeting.
This deal is the culmination of over a decade of legal proceedings against Assange. Who had bee seen as an advocate for freedom of speech because he published. What he perceived as abuse by American armed forces and intelligence agencies. However, U.S. prosecutors have said that he endangered national security through his reckless behavior.
The agreement with prosecutors requires. Assange to admit guilt on one felony count but enables him to avoid serving time in any U.S. jailhouse. While receiving credit for five years in maximum-security English prison resisting extradition to America for prosecution. Before being detain in London, following sex case allegations by Swedish authorities. Which he denies; Mr Assange spent years in hiding at Ecuadorian Embassy London.
Canberra within hours; says WikiLeaks
According to a statement released by Wikileaks on Wednesday afternoon. Mr Assange will be heading to Canberra in Australia within hours hence may arrive today evening.
“Expected departure: 2 hours 58 minutes” reads a social media post from WikiLeaks “To Canberra Australia.” This plea bargain will therefore lead to his release from custody allowing him fly back home. Where he comes from – Australia’s capital city
What were the controversial publications made by Wikileaks?
IN April 2010 wikileaks published a video showing a US helicopter attack that happened in Baghdad two years earlier killing twelve people including two Reuters journalists. This classified video footage was leake leading up to the June arrest of Bradley Manning, a US army specialist.
Following that in July, 91,000 documents including confidential American military files regarding the war in Afghanistan were release by wikileaks. In October, they published about 400 thousand classified military records that contained detailed information on the Iraq war from 2004 up to 2009.
These disclosures constituted the most extensive leaks of their kind in the history of the US military. Later that same year, WikiLeaks gave out thousands of US diplomatic cables with frank assessments of foreign officials and evaluations about security risks. Some of these messages included those from King Abdullah asking the United States to repeatedly strike. Iran’s nuclear program as well as China’s involvement in hacking into U.S computers.
