00:00Wikileaks founder is finally free Julian Assange set to return to Australia
00:09What's next in the Assange's prison saga?
00:13Julian Assange, the founder of the Wikileaks, has been released from prison in the United
00:18Kingdom and is set to return to Australia after agreeing to plead guilty to a single
00:23charge in the United States.
00:25Assange, who is 52 years old, will admit in one court of conspiring to obtain and disclose
00:32classified U.S. defense documents.
00:34After spending 1,901 days in the Belmarsh prison, Assange was freed on June 24, 2024.
00:42He was then taken to the airport and left the U.K.
00:45Now he is scheduled to appear in a court in Saipan, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, where
00:50he will be sentenced to 62 months of time already served.
00:54Wikileaks, the organization Assange founded in 2006, became famous for publishing classified
00:59information from anonymous sources.
01:02Some of the most notable releases were including footage of a U.S. helicopter attack in Baghdad
01:07and documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
01:10In 2019, the U.S. charged Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act.
01:17This move was controversial, with supporters arguing that as a publisher, Assange shouldn't
01:22face such charges.
01:24Press freedom advocates also saw it as a threat to free speech.
01:28Assange's legal trouble, however, began in 2010, when he was arrested in London on Swedish
01:33sexual assault charges.
01:35He spent seven years in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition.
01:40After Ecuador withdrew his asylum, he was arrested by the U.K. police in 2019 and has
01:46been fighting U.S. extradition since then.
01:49The plea comes after increasing pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to drop the case.
01:54In February, the Australian government officially requested the U.S. to end the prosecution,
01:59saying that it has been dragged on for too long.
02:02Wikileaks also stated that Assange paid severely for publishing stories of government corruption
02:07and human rights abuses.
02:08They thanked all of them who supported him during his fight for freedom.
02:13Assange's mother, Christine, also expressed gratitude that her son's ordeal is finally
02:17coming to an end and highlighted the importance of quiet diplomacy.
02:21This development marks a significant turning point in a case that has lasted for years
02:25and has sparked numerous debates about press freedom, government transparency and the limit
02:30of national security.
02:32Assange's return to Australia will be likely seen as a relief by his supporters and family
02:36after his long legal battle.
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