Julian Assange with his fists up on his arrival in Australia after almost 11 years of United States persecution for revealing the atrocities of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo: AFP.
The journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, arrived in Australia this Wednesday after being released. Earlier this week, the US justice system accepted a plea bargain, thus ending more than 14 years of persecution against Assange for revealing the atrocities committed by the United States military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Through its social media accounts, WikiLeaks confirmed the activist’s arrival in Canberra, the Austrian capital, after a seven-hour flight from Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, where his court hearing was held.
Assange’s plane landed in Canberra after the 52-year-old journalist pleaded guilty in a court in Saipan (a US colony in Oceania) to a charge of espionage, related to obtaining and publishing US military secrets. This was part of the plea deal reached with the US Department of Justice to grant his freedom.
In a courtroom of the US island in the Pacific Ocean, District Judge Ramona Manglona confirmed the sentence of Assange of five years and two months—the time he spent in the UK Bermash prison fighting extradition to the US, which will qualify as time served—and said he was now free to go, after stating that not a single person was harmed by Wikileaks’ revelations.
JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE!!
Watch here: https://t.co/7PlI9fnSMG#AssangeFreed #JournalismIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/Kpbh63CCCB
— Free Assange – #FreeAssange (@FreeAssangeNews) June 26, 2024
“After enduring almost 14 years of arbitrary detention in the United Kingdom, five years in maximum security prison, for his groundbreaking editorial work with WikiLeaks, Julian Assange has returned home to Australian soil,” WikiLeaks wrote in a statement.
Julian Assange should not have spent a day in prison
His wife, Stella Assange, and other family members were waiting for him at the Canberra International Airport, reported Telesur.
Later, in statements to the press, Assange’s wife warned about “the danger” of the United States case against the WikiLeaks founder.
"Julian has to recover – that’s the priority.
Julian will always defend human rights. He will always defend victims. He’s always done that. And that’s just part of who he is.
He’s deeply principled. And he remains deeply principled. And unafraid." – @Stella_Assange pic.twitter.com/bwOGCgGARb
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 26, 2024
“I hope that journalists, editors, and publishers around the world realize the danger of the US case against Julian that criminalizes [journalist], that it has obtained a conviction for gathering news and publishing information that was true, that the public deserved to know,” she said.
Furthermore, she commented that this precedent can and will be used in the future against “the rest of the press” and emphasized that Julian Assange “should not have spent a day in prison.”
“The entire press is interested in seeking to change this current situation through reform of the Espionage Act, through greater protections for the press and, yes, eventually, when the time comes—not today—a pardon,” she added.
Stella Assange assured that her husband will always defend human rights and victims: “He’s always done that. And that’s just part of who he is. He has deep principles. And he remains deeply principled. And without fear.”
(Ăšltimas Noticias) by MarĂa Eugenia RodrĂguez with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
