Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is on the brink of concluding his long-standing legal challenges. He is set to appear in court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, where he will plead guilty to one federal felony charge. This agreement will allow him to return to Australia, his home country.
The plea deal stipulates a 62-month sentence, which Assange has already served in Britain’s Belmarsh prison. If the court accepts the plea deal, Assange will essentially gain his freedom due to time already served.
Assange first gained fame when WikiLeaks published classified military and diplomatic documents between 2000 and 2011. These included footage of U.S. airstrikes in Baghdad and military logs from Afghanistan and Iraq. The website also released sensitive diplomatic cables, drawing significant attention.
In 2010, Assange faced sexual assault charges in Sweden, which were later dropped. Seeking refuge, he lived in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks published Democratic National Committee emails, causing significant embarrassment for the party and leading to the resignation of its chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
After leaving the embassy, Assange was arrested by British authorities, likely at the request of the U.S., on charges related to a sealed indictment from the Trump administration for computer hacking. These charges were later expanded to include 17 additional counts.
Assange’s legal team argued against his extradition to the U.S., citing concerns about his ability to receive a fair trial and his mental and physical health. The UK courts battled over his extradition for five years, complicated by concerns over the death penalty. The U.S. assured that Assange would not face such a penalty and could serve any sentence in Australia.
Assange remains a polarizing figure. Some view him as a heroic journalist exposing government misconduct, while others see him as reckless, endangering lives by releasing sensitive information.
First Amendment advocates are concerned about the implications of Assange’s guilty plea. Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation criticized the Biden administration for extracting a guilty plea, arguing it sets a dangerous precedent for journalism. Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute echoed these concerns, suggesting the plea deal undermines press freedom globally.
While Assange’s personal ordeal may be nearing its end, the legal and ethical debates surrounding his actions and the implications for press freedom continue.