After seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom and five in a London prison, Julian Assange is now finally free in the eyes of the law.
Earlier this week in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, the WikiLeaks founder completed the agreement with the United States Department of Justice and pleaded guilty before Judge Ramona Manglona to a single count for conspiratorial acquisition and publication of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act.
The magistrate, after a three hour hearing, accepted the portion of the deal that counts the 62 months already served in Britain as sufficient punishment, describing it as one of the harshest sentences in the country. She also noted the government had indicated there was no personal victim here, which led to the conclusion that the disclosure of information did not result in any known physical harm.
With this decision it appears he may leave the courtroom as a free man, the judge told Assange. Journalists in the room reported visible emotion from him. The judge added that his upcoming birthday is likely next week, and he would return to Australia to begin a new life after heading home immediately after the hearing, leaving the courthouse without remarks. It was said that he hoped to start anew on a positive path.
Shortly after the hearing, the Department of Justice issued a statement providing further details of the agreement. For example, Assange will not be allowed to set foot in the United States again without prior permission.
“A Dangerous Precedent”
The decision ends nearly 15 years of a political, legal, and diplomatic saga. While supporters celebrated what they saw as a victory against the long-running pursuit, many experts warn that the settlement, with Assange admitting guilt, sets a troubling precedent that could threaten press freedom.
That concern was echoed by Assange’s lawyers in a post-judgment press briefing outside the courthouse. “This prosecution sets a dangerous precedent that should worry journalists everywhere,” said Jennifer Robinson, noting that the United States seeks to extend jurisdiction beyond its borders without constitutional protections for freedom of expression.
“The case sets a chilling precedent,” added Barry Pollack, his other counsel. He underscored that the government framed the actions as journalism, given that major outlets around the world published the material and that it carried significant informational value. He asked rhetorically whether the United States is pursuing journalism as a crime. He hoped this would be the first and last time such a thing happens.
The Proceedings
Assange had flown to Saipan on a chartered flight from London about three hours before the proceedings, which began at nine in the morning local time. He arrived wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and a brown tie, accompanied by two of his lawyers, the Australian ambassador to the United States, and he declined to answer questions from reporters upon entry.
The courtroom filled with about 40 journalists and spectators, including Assange supporters. To accommodate the interest, an additional room was opened with closed-circuit transmission, though Manglona reminded attendees that recordings were not allowed inside the courtroom.
During the hearing, Assange explained that he had read the agreement with the Department of Justice carefully and signed it on Monday after leaving the London prison where he had spent five years, while waiting at Stansted Airport.
The judge repeatedly asked whether anyone had attempted to bribe, intimidate, or compel him to plead guilty, and each time Assange answered no. When asked if he pleaded guilty because he was actually guilty of the charge, he paused and then replied, yes, he was.
The judge then turned to the sentencing question. The charge carried a maximum penalty of ten years and a $250,000 fine, but the government’s plea deal considered 62 months served in Belmarsh to be sufficient, effectively satisfying the sentence.
A Final Challenge
During the hearing, Manglona requested that Assange explain why he pleaded guilty. He said he acted as a journalist by encouraging a source to share information believed to be classified for publication. He asserted that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protected that activity, but accepted that it violated the Espionage Act.
When pressed for more explanation, Assange suggested the First Amendment and the Espionage Act clash at times, and acknowledged that winning a case under those conditions would have been difficult. His attorneys elaborated that he understands there is no defense under the First Amendment that would shield him from the Espionage Act and that is why he pleaded guilty.
Government representatives responded by saying that they rejected those sentiments but accepted that they existed in his view.
They also reviewed the charges against Assange, whose disclosures began during Barack Obama’s presidency and continued into Donald Trump’s term, detailing that his actions were deliberate and voluntary. They framed WikiLeaks as a platform that intentionally exposed sensitive defense-related material, threatening U.S. national security, and accused Assange of encouraging high-level insiders to provide him information. They described the Chelsea Manning disclosures, which led to Manning’s arrest and a 35-year sentence later commuted by Barack Obama, as part of the same context.
The Endgame
After a short break, Assange again proclaimed guilty around 10:45, followed by another 20-minute intermission, and finally the conclusion when the judge accepted the portion of the agreement deemed to be a fair reflection of time already served in custody.
Although Manglona noted that a monetary penalty could range from $15,000 to $150,000, she explained that Assange could not pay and recommended that a financial penalty not be imposed. No supervised release period was mandated. She cited the absence of direct victims and the long, arduous fourteen-year ordeal as factors guiding her decision. She added that she would not have accepted the deal if the case had arisen in 2012, but time had passed, and the 62 months already served was considered fair, reasonable, and proportional to Manning’s time served in prison.
The U.S. attorneys had previously indicated that once the judge accepted the deal and issued the sentence, they would immediately move to drop the remaining charges against Assange, including 18 charges filed in 2019. The procedural timing was arranged to allow the agreement to take effect promptly, despite a fourteen-hour time difference with the continental United States. The extradition request from the United Kingdom was also withdrawn at once.
While the proceedings were underway, WikiLeaks posted on X the information about the flight planned to take Assange to Canberra. The platform launched a fundraising drive to cover the costs of that flight and a separate one from Saipan to London, since Assange cannot fly commercially. The campaign aimed to raise about 520,000 pounds and was reported to be halfway to its target at the time of publication.
White House Silence
Since Monday there has been no official reaction from the White House or President Joe Biden. A spokesperson for the National Security Council offered a brief comment to CNN, clarifying that the decision was an independent one made by the Department of Justice and that the White House had no involvement.