Julian Assange, after pleading guilty to a security charge, was bailed and will trial in Saipan. He may serve time equal to his five-year UK detention. His case raises significant press freedom concerns, with a verdict pending that could end a longstanding legal battle
On Monday morning, June 24, 2024, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was freed on bail. This happened after he agreed to plead guilty to one count of unlawfully acquiring and revealing national security material, which carries a maximum term of ten years in jail. Following his release, the WikiLeaks founder proceeded to Australia, where he will face trial on the island of Saipan (a United States possession in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the Philippines) on Wednesday, June 26 at 09:00 local time.
He is expected to be sentenced to about five years, the equivalent of the time he has already served in Britain’s high-security Belmarsh prison (5 years and two months), according to a law enforcement official familiar with the terms of the agreement.
According to previous reports, Mr. Assange might be extradited to the United States by the end of 2022, when he faces up to 175 years in jail for disclosing secret materials. However, a UK judge denied Assange’s plea to be extradited to the United States in May 2023. Mr. Assange was freed on bail in August 2023. He must remain in the country until his case is determined.
Julian Assange rose to prominence in American society in the 2010s, when Wikileaks began releasing startling disclosures. Among them were hundreds of thousands of secret US military documents from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as hundreds of thousands of confidential diplomatic cables containing candid, sometimes unflattering assessments of US partners abroad, including foreign leaders whose assistance was needed to combat terrorism. US officials charged him with 17 counts. At this moment, he was in Britain. In March 2024, a London judge permitted Assange to appeal the decision to extradite him to the United States.
His liberation was not instantaneous. This year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave U.S. prosecutors the opportunity to end the case, and President Biden voiced a desire to resolve the situation ASAP. Justice Department officials agreed to the settlement with no further prison time because Assange had already served more time in prison than most people charged with a similar offense—more than five years in a British prison.
However, U.S. authorities claim Assange’s actions go beyond news gathering and constitute a significant risk to national security. Prosecutors believe that the materials Manning shared endangered the lives of US military personnel and Iraqi collaborators, as well as making it impossible to repel external threats.
Assange’s supporters are concerned that the protracted trial and probable incarceration in the United States have already harmed journalistic protection and freedom of expression across the world. This is inappropriate and unlawful. The US authorities have frequently maintained that “journalism is not a crime,” but in this case they adopt a different approach. Assange’s legal team feels that the issue is about more than just one individual, but about press freedom overall. The United States government is exploiting the unconstitutional Espionage Act to prosecute regular journalistic gathering and sharing of public-interest material.
It is unclear what judgment will be made in Assange’s case and how it will affect his destiny, but the agreement might put an end to a long-running conflict that began in the 2010s, when the WikiLeaks founder was both celebrated and chastised for releasing state secrets.
