Julian Assange soon to be free, the founder of Wikileaks has reached an agreement with the justice system
Around the world, there is a sigh of relief for all of Julian Assange’s supporters. After 1,901 days in detention, the 52-year-old Australian is “free”. This is evidenced by a video published by WikiLeaks showing him boarding a plane at Stansted airport and departing the UK on the morning of Tuesday, June 25th.
Accused of exposing hundreds of thousands of confidential documents (the WikiLeaks), Julian Assange has negotiated a guilty plea agreement with the American justice system which was seeking his extradition. The agreement is set to be formalized on Wednesday at 9 am (local time) in front of a federal court in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Assange wishes to return to Australia
According to publicly released court documents, the Australian is now only accused of “conspiracy to receive and disclose national defense information”, is expected to plead guilty to this charge alone, and is set to be sentenced to 62 months in prison, already served in pretrial detention in London, enabling him to return freely to his native Australia.
“Julian is free!!!” exclaimed his wife Stella Assange, expressing “immense gratitude” to those who have mobilized “for years” to make his release a “reality”. “I am grateful that my son’s ordeal is finally coming to an end. This shows the importance and power of discreet diplomacy,” said his mother, Christine Assange, in a statement released by Australian media outlets.
“The saga of my son has been used by many to promote their own cause. I am therefore grateful to the invisible and hardworking people who have put Julian’s well-being first,” she added.
The Australian government also commented on this resolution, stating that the Assange case had “dragged on for too long” and that his continued detention no longer served any purpose. A 14-year saga
This agreement marks the end of a nearly 14-year saga. It comes as the British justice system was set to consider, on July 9th and 10th, Julian Assange’s appeal against his extradition to the United States, which was approved by the UK government in June 2022.
He has been fighting not to be handed over to the American justice system, which has been pursuing him for making public over 700,000 confidential documents from 2010 onwards regarding American military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among these documents is a video showing civilians, including two Reuters journalists, being killed by the gunfire of an American combat helicopter in Iraq in July 2007.