The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assangehas been released after 14 years of judicial saga and after formalizing in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, an agreement in which he pleaded guilty to espionage in exchange for being able to return to his native Australia.

After being officially released, Assange briefly appeared in front of the dozens of television cameras waiting for him outside the federal court in Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. She briefly waved to reporters before getting into a vehicle, without making any statements.

Inside the court, Assange pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified United States documents and, in exchange, Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona handed down a sentence that allows him to return to Australia “as a free man.”

“With this decision, it seems that he will be able to leave this room free. I hope this will contribute to restoring some peace”commented the judge when pronouncing the ruling, showing gestures of courtesy towards Assange, even wishing him a “happy birthday in advance” because he will turn 53 on July 3.

The judge accepted the terms agreed between the Department of Justice and Assange’s defense, sentencing him to 62 months in prison, but granting him credit for time already served in the high-security Belmarsh prison (United Kingdom), which resulted in his officially released.

When handing down the sentence, the judge said she had considered, among other factors, the period of imprisonment of former soldier Chelsea Manning, Assange’s main source in the WikiLeaks leak, who was in prison between 2010 and 2017, when her sentence was commuted to then-president Barack Obama.

The crime to which Assange pleaded guilty, for conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US documents, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, but thanks to the agreement he will avoid more time behind bars.

During the hearing, Assange kept a serious facealthough he seemed to get slightly emotional when the judge said when handing down the sentence: “It seems that this case ends with me here in Saipan”according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

acts of rebellion

Assange, however, also engaged in several acts of rebellion that rekindled the tension between press freedom and national security, central aspects of the case.

On two occasions, when the judge asked him how he responded to the charges, The Australian responded: “Guilty of the information”, an unusual statement for these proceedings, as reported by The Guardian and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Furthermore, the founder of WikiLeaks He defended his journalistic work, arguing that it should be protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. which protects freedom of the press and which, in his opinion, contradicts the Espionage Act of 1917, for which he was convicted.

After the hearing, his lawyers held a brief press conference outside the courthouse and his lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, stated that these types of proceedings “establish a dangerous precedent” that should “worry journalists everywhere.”

The hearing was held without television cameras in a US federal courtroom located on the island of Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean.

The Australian’s defense requested that the hearing be held in this location due to its proximity to Australia and because Assange did not wish to travel to the continental United States.

End to a 14-year saga

This episode ends a 14-year saga that began in 2010 with the largest leak of classified documents in United States history, questioning Washington’s role in the world by revealing attacks on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistanjust like him mistreatment of prisoners in Guantánamoamong other matters.

Following the leak, Sweden issued an arrest warrant on charges of sexual abuse, which were later dropped. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, until he was arrested by British authorities in 2019, spending the last five years in a high-security prison.

Finally, around 12:10 local time on Wednesday (2:10 GMT), Assange’s plane headed to Australia, where he planned to give a press conference and meet with his wife, Stella, and their two children.

As a curiosity, the private aircraft in which he travels achieved global notoriety for transporting Taylor Swift from Tokyo to the United States for the Super Bowl in February.