Now at large, Julian Assange arrives in Australia | World

More than a decade later, Assange arrives home a free man. On Tuesday night, he pleaded guilty He was convicted during a hearing in a US court in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The hearing in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, lasted about three hours. The judge in the case, Ramona Villagomez Manglona, ​​accepted the agreement between US prosecutors and Assange’s defense.

“You will be allowed to leave this court free,” the judge said after pronouncing the sentence.

The judge also said it was “fair” and “reasonable” to accept the 62-month prison sentence Assange has already served in the UK. Finally, Manglona also wished an early “happy birthday” to the WikiLeaks creator, who turns 53 next week.

Assange He pleaded guilty to violating the US Espionage Act. The accusation involves Conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents.

He told the court that he believed the Espionage Act conflicted with America’s First Amendment rights, but he accepted the fact that encouraging sources to provide classified information for publication could be illegal.

He said during the hearing: “In my work as a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information considered confidential for publication.”

After leaving the court, Assange went to the airport and boarded a plane bound for Canberra, Australia. The activist is Australian and must live in the country with his wife and two children.

Julian Assange became known worldwide for founding WikiLeaks and creating a network of activists. The organization was responsible for leaking some 700,000 classified documents from the United States, which angered the American authorities.

The agreement reached between Assange and the US Department of Justice ends a legal dispute that lasted 14 years.

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