WikiLeaks founder released from prison, returns to Australia.

On June 26, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was released from court on Saipan (a US territory in the Pacific Ocean ) after pleading guilty to violating US espionage laws.

The court also allowed Mr. Assange to return directly to his native Australia. Mr. Assange left Saipan on a private plane to Canberra, Australia's capital, on the afternoon of June 26.

Julian Assange leaves court in Saipan on June 26. Photo: Getty Images/Sydney Herald Morning

According to Reuters, during a three-hour hearing in Saipan, Assange pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose classified defense documents, but stated that he believed the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of speech, shielded him from such actions.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona accepted the guilty plea, noting that the U.S. government acknowledges there were no individual victims of Assange's actions.

Julian Assange and his lawyer Jennifer Robinson on a plane returning to Australia. Photo: X

Julian Paul Assange, born July 3, 1971, is an Australian editor, publisher, and political activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks gained international attention after publishing a series of documents provided by former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011. These allegations stemmed from WikiLeaks' release of hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents about Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010. This is considered one of the largest breaches of classified information in US history.

The release of Mr. Assange concludes a 14-year legal battle. During this time, Mr. Assange spent over five years in a high-security British prison and seven years as a refugee at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fighting extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges and to the United States, where he faced 18 criminal charges.

KHANH MINH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nguoi-sang-lap-wikileaks-duoc-tra-tu-do-ve-australia-post746396.html