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© Thomson Reuters 2024.WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to be freed after pleading guilty to U.S. Espionage Act charge
By Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON/SYDNEY©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
98 Comments
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oldman_13
Wonderful news!
Assange is a HERO for what he did.
deanzaZZR
So many USA overseas territories, so many choices.
Assange is due to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served at a hearing on the island of Saipan at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
JJE
Always important the ruling political cabal in the US were angry at him for exposing a long litany of completely ruthless war crimes and mass killings. This included massacring journalists, women, children and senior citizens.
This was his heinous crime in their sick eyes.
Bad Haircut
Finally! He'll still have to watch his back though, and will probably need to continually release messages that he's not suicidal.
JJE
Another shameful aspect is prominent western media publications also published the material (including the NYT, Guardian etc) but were not subject to prosecution.
John
Julian got off easy although not Scott free.
He wasn’t a “radical transparency advocate”. He wasn’t a journalist. He was an anarchist.
He leaked classified data and cables that made none of the effort to scrub individual identities of assets that put those assets at serious risk. No serious journalist would have done this.
Then, when he was credibly accused of rape and indicted, he jumped bail and abused diplomatic immunity of another country.
One could argue that his 7 years in the embassy counts as a kind of incarceration in addition to the 5 years he spent in a high security prison while his case played out constitutes some amount of punishment.
But not nearly as much and under better conditions than he’d have gotten in Federal prison.
But a hero, he is not.
Like another narcissist I can think of, he’s now by way of his plea deal, a convicted felon.
Mike_Oxlong
He's been free since before this report. The morning of the 24th in London he was released and got on a plane back to Australia.
wallace
The long Assange is over. Time to Write His Memoirs.
kohakuebisu
Basically the case against him has (completely) collapsed, so they are letting him go with meaningless charge to save face. This is now all about how this plays out in public relations terms in the mainstream media, and not about security or anything else.
Those acquainted with the case, journalists such as Chris Hedges and Declassified UK, said Assange's legal team had essentially "won" last week. I say won in inverted commas because he was imprisoned for so long that he has still lost a large chunk of his life and health.
The ironic thing is that Wikipedia's most famous footage, of the helicopter shooting innocents on the ground, now looks trivial compared to footage of children being blown to bits in Gaza. This shows how normalized we have become to extreme violence, so long as our "friends" are doing the killing.
bass4funk
Thank God!
No, he is and represents the very definition of journalism.
Uhhh, don’t go there, because if you
Accused….
Unfortunate, and tragic and the U.S. should be ashamed of itself because they got caught and by a foreign journalist for doing his job as a journalist.
Thank the Lord!
Not to you but to millions of people globally he’s exactly that, a hero.
Seems like he will be ok, just like the other felon.
JJE
US has not prosecuted one of the thousands of US war criminals on the loose for Iraq/Afghanistan war crimes but sought to put the truth teller/whistle blower in jail for exposing their perverted conduct.
How despicable.
Yes, he is a journalist and publisher. That is why western publications, including the NYTs, worked with him to inform the public.
wallace
bass4funk
previously you spoke against Assange and not for him. What changed?
bass4funk
Back in 2016 I didn’t know all the facts, I did overtime, so I was wrong about the man. Snowden for that matter as well.
151E
Good job on the Japan Times for staying on top of this important story and always being a voice for press freedoms.
John
The other thing both these narcissists and felons have in common is an aversion to facing accountability or justice for their actions because like your cult leader, Julian is a coward.
wallace
bass4funk
previously you spoke against Assange and not for him. What changed?
Good man!
John
It couldn’t have had anything to do with both of them wanting to burn American security to the ground and being best buddies with Putin.
Oh no, that was just a coincidence.
bass4funk
Democrats are the very last people to lecture anyone on accountability, ethics, morals or justice. Give me a break. ROFL!
Half the world would disagree with that.
RichardPearce
If he'd been revealing Russian, or Chinese military atrocities, he'd be up for a Nobel prize, there'd have been an 'Assange Act' in Congress imposing sanctions.
But instead...
bass4funk
The Dems already did that and are doing so right now as we speak.
No, we just think Putin is strong for a leader and Biden is not, that’s just a fact.
Yes
bass4funk
So I should then defend the lying politicians instead? With their track record going back decades???
Ken
Are you saying you don't do that? Please ask everyone here what they think?
bass4funk
No, I don’t and I’m not a politician in government.
As if I care what anyone on this site thinks. ROFL!
Ken
Imagine being all about "free speech" but muting your opponents and any criticism
bass4funk
That is what most of the liberal media do, the last 4 years have shown us this.
wallace
Julian Assange was indicted by Donald Trump.
Assange looks very middle-aged and a bit overweight. Probably the prison food.
Ken
I don't know about that. The dude that revenge hacked North Korea didn't as far as I know but if he did expose secrets of China or Russia he would have been assassinated seeing how they aren't normally confined to their country as the case with North Koreans
TaiwanIsNotChina
Disgusting. He will attack the US again and the happy little Putinists here will gibber gleefully.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I guess Reporters Without Borders will now move the US up 20 places in press freedom ranking, right? Right? Right.
JJE
No, they won't. Still a national disgrace for the US and always will be.
Patricia Yarrow
Saipan is an American Commonwealth, so I am a bit concerned that Assange could be re-kidnapped again. Staying tuned.
Cards fan
You'd certainly be all up in arms about that!
John-San
Just remember the filth that gave no support but feed off Wikileaks and knew the truth. The mainstream media. The same mob that reported that Iraq had WMD. The same mob that ignored the evidence about child sex trafficking of Epstein and Co. The same mob that promoted Russiagate. The same mod that refuse to report on Israel human right abuses of the Palestinians which has been proven by the UN and ICJ. Yet the mainstream media totally miss these abuses for decades. It is either the mainstream media totally useless at reporting truth and only get it correct 2% of the time or they are a criminal organisation
bass4funk
Why?
No, the government and he should.
Not sure what that is, but for the sake of Democracy, I applaud the guy and hope he does vigorously.
And he regrets that he did now knowing what he knows.
Well, going through what he went through anyone would, that goes without saying.
wallace
TaiwanIsNotChina
As a non-American, do you disagree with the decision to release Assange? He had already been in prison for five years.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I am American. Because Assange engaged in a conspiracy to get Chelsea Manning to gather documents, he should have received the full punishment under the Espionage Act. I guess 12 years in various forms of incarceration is not bad, but he should have faced the full US justice system to deter other hackers.
TaiwanIsNotChina
And all legal, too. That's what happens when you country doesn't have lost centuries.
FizzBit
2 days before the debate.
Sometimes desperate politicians can be a good thing.
Julian truly a hero
FizzBit
Because Assange engaged in a conspiracy to get Chelsea Manning to gather documents
of illegal US military actions and murder
not surprising you skipped that part.
TaiwanIsNotChina
It can be of the plan to destroy the world. That doesn't make it legal. Also he encouraged Manning to get as many documents as she could, regardless of the contents.
JJE
JA engaged in what investigative journalists and reporters covering national security related issues do everyday.
Expose government lies, fraud and deceit by reporting and publishing information in the public interest. He didn't hack into anything or encourage anyone to do so.
He provided an outlet for whistleblowers to report malfeasance, which is what the press is meant to do.
As pointed out, the NYT and other publications collaborated with him but were not prosecuted.
Sadly, the whole saga was a ruthless attack on the press by the Atlanticist ruling class who don't like their dirty, blood soaked linen being revealed. Obama should hang his head in shame for instigating this travesty and the things it exposed about him.
Moonraker
Legal and moral are not equivalent, though many like to justify all kinds of immorality on the grounds of legality. If a military is committing atrocities, no amount of legality or illegality of exposure should justify it. Most justice systems are heavily weighted in favour of the powerful and the establishment.
Antiquesaving
Everyone in the world should be weary of the United States!
Remember it is a country that imposes its laws unilaterally on others.
I don't have to agree or disagree with what Assange did but you should look into American laws that extend beyond their jurisdiction/Borders!
Look at the joke the fiasco that was the Meng Wanzhou extradition trial in Canada.
No violation of Canadian laws no violation of international laws, no violation of Chinese laws, the USA stooped so low as to pull out a barely used law to charge her with in order to try and get Canada to extradite her under that, so the USA could then charge her try her under their other charges, thankfully the judge in Canada understood this and wouldn't extradite.
And they did a similar thing here with Assange.
Canada and the UK once stood up to the USA regarding these extraterritorial laws it tries imposing on others sadly both have lost any backbone.
Look up Helms–Burton Act regarding Cuba, the USA has hundreds of foreign business people on a wanted list for doing legal business under their country's laws (this list includes British, Canadian, French etc...) business CEOs and other.
Canada, UK, EU all passed laws or modified their laws to make any requests made under the table Helms–Burton Act void!
Time to extend that to the rest of the USA extraterritorial laws!
GuruMick
Good... journalism is important
TaiwanIsNotChina
It's like you have no other focus in the world.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Certain wars going on in 2024 have racked up far more war crimes than the Iraq occupation and I'm not talking about Gaza.
Antiquesaving
Well you should know, it seems you have only one also!
The problem is I know actually history and facts, as you don't seem to know either seeing you consistently post USA centric views that most of the world disagrees with!
elephant200
Why should he bring blackmailed to confess the crimes he never done?
That made me remember Huawei CFO Manzhou Mang being in Canada custody for three years !
Antiquesaving
Actually it does make it legal!
Is he a USA citizen? No!
Was he residing in the USA? No!
Did he do the act? No!
Was his activity illegal in the country he was in at the time? No!
Does the USA have the right to impose its laws on non citizens and on other countries? No!
That is her problem, was it illegal in his country, in the country he resided in for him to encourage her? No!
All the No answers are the reasons he was never extradited, because he broke no laws in any other country and is not subject to USA laws!
commanteer
Quite a relief he is free. It's not justice that he was forced to cop a plea, or that he spent 12 years in prisons without a trial, or that the war criminals he exposed as a journalist were never punished and are still running things. But at least he finally got a break - even if the only reason was so the War Party could pick up a few more votes in November.
Unfortunately, the CIA (even more so than Putin) are not averse to assassinating enemies overseas - so I hope he stays safe.
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Wonderful news for him and his family.
A guilty plea was a necessary evil on their behalf but I am yet to see any crime that was committed.
Exposing crimes by criminal Government members and their corrupt military s is what a journalist should be doing.
He was used as a scapegoat to scare and deter other concerned and enlightened global citizens about daring to speak up to power.
Those that were guilty, lied about WMD and those murderers in the helicopter.
Talking and exposing facts is to be admired. Heroic and brave against ones own personal freedom and safety
Well done Julian.
Hero.
wallace
He suffered way more than he ever had.
BertieWooster
At last Assange is free!
He dared to stand up to the US and expose some of the most inhumane acts committed by any nation at any time that they were and still are desperate to try to cover up. Assange is a hero. Let us remind ourselves of what he exposed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTxuW2vmzk&rco=1
The above link is to the video that the US is still trying to hide. It shows a helicopter gunning down a group of civilians, including Reuters journalists and two children.
EvilBuddha
Let us remind ourselves of what he exposed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTxuW2vmzk&rco=1
The above link is to the video that the US is still trying to hide. It shows a helicopter gunning down a group of civilians, including Reuters journalists and two children.
An ex-US military guy who is a regular poster here once claimed that all such videos which show the US in a bad light are fabricated. Such proof will be hard to swallow if one is pretending to be an anti-racist all his life, and harder to accept that your country is not the beacon of human rights that it claims to be.
RichardPearce
Assange's 'sin' was to show that both Democrats and Republicans were warmongers who turned a blind eye to American war crimes that American media would describe as Crimes Against Humanity if anyone 'evil' (capable of not only standing up to American hegemony when it flexed its might, but also inspiring others to free themselves)
Hervé L'Eisa
The real danger for Assange now is assassination by some deranged "terrorist".
theFu
I never understood how the US could charge someone for a crime they did completely outside the USA? Now, if the crime had ties back into the USA and directly harmed people there, then I can understand it.
But didn't he post copies of stolen US govt papers that could have been modified and were only about actions the US was doing/attempting outside the USA? Normally, that is called diplomacy. If the US govt didn't want those things known, they should have locked them up better.
Most of the time, things that embarrass the US govt are good to show to the world, just like things that embarrass Moscow and Beijing are good for the world to know. With great power comes great responsibility. Either own your actions or be embarrassed by them. Eventually, history will judge all govts and this chapter won't look good on America.
Antiquesaving
The USA is one of the few countries with what are called "extraterritorial laws" what this means is the USA tries to impose laws on other countries and citizens of other countries.
Examples include the embargo on Cuba and the Helms–Burton Act in which the USA says it is illegal to do business with Cuba if the USA or a citizen of the USA claims they actually own the property, factory, plantation, etc ..and by illegal they mean all other countries and their citizens.
Naturally Europe and even Canada passed laws to say any extradition request based on the Helms–Burton Act was invalid.
This was when Canada, UK and the EU still has a backbone!
But if you are an executive of a company doing business in Cuba that the USA says violates the Helms–Burton Act then never ever step foot in any USA territory, they will and have arrested people, Canadian executives of a sugar company, that buys from Cuba found that out the hard way!
Square Point of sales system has to avoid going through the USA on transactions in Canada, Japan and EU because the USA gover seized clients funds because they were selling Cuban coffee in their coffee shops in Canada, Japan and Europe or selling Cuban cigars all based on Helms–Burton Act!
Since then the USA has done similar laws regarding Iran and imposed those on other countries and citizens even if they are not in the USA!
See the Meng Wanzhou extradition trial in Canada.
But today as clearly seen in the Assange case! The western world has gone down on its knees and can no longer stand up to this bullying by the USA, it is hard to stand without a backbone!
albaleo
Sadly, it does. The extradition agreement between the USA and UK allows extradition to the US for acts that took place in the UK.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK%E2%80%93US_extradition_treaty_of_2003
bass4funk
https://x.com/foxnews/status/1805602438855987613?s=46&t=YGWP_lcRZjddiWlx4QxURQ
Antiquesaving
As I said, the UK used to have a backbone!
When the USA started this junk legal action with the Helms–Burton Act in the 1990s the UK and the rest stood up to the USA and said no, since then the UK and the rest became little servants to anything the USA tells them.
Roger Gusain
Just what we need when facing the threat of imminent nuclear war -- a moron who wants to give all our secrets to our enemies.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Why don't you find some sources for that rather than legal arcanum. You even posted the same garbage multiple times. Not all of us go to ChatGPT for our replies. The US is broadly popular outside of scummy dictatorships.
TaiwanIsNotChina
The internet makes it possible to attack a country while not being in the country.
It definitely harmed US national security interests and human intelligence sources.
That's like saying you can't commit a crime if there isn't a proper alarm system on the house. In this case, it is very hard to prevent someone with authorized access from doing something contrary to their oaths.
In light of the much larger crimes committed by a certain country you mentioned not the US, history should judge things with appropriately.
Sorry for going off on you, but yours was one of the few rational posts worth replying to.
bass4funk
There you go speculating again without a shred of evidence.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Now that Assange is out, maybe his website can get another post.
TaiwanIsNotChina
For those obsessed about the Helms-Burton Act, you'd have to be crazy to think the US would just stand by as shell companies and other methods are used to circumvent US laws. Also Cuba clearly didn't think it was unacceptable to block normalization of relations, although maybe they and their backers just wanted access to US diplomats to assault.
Kuku
The most amazing thing is that the whole world is rejoicing. Unfortunately, this is not the end yet. There is no court decision. In a world dominated by an all-American team, he will never be safe. Will definitely cross the road at a red light at some point. So run, Julian, run! Only in Russia you will be safe. Snowden lives in Russia and does not rock the boat.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I also support criminals being confined to Russia.
Kuku
How can your words correlate with the fact that for all 12 years of actual imprisonment, Assange's name did not leave world media and people's minds? And yesterday all the newspapers of the world came out with his portrait on the front pages of the issues? How can your conclusion be corrrect?
TaiwanIsNotChina
Anti-Americans of all stripes will latch onto whatever they can as evidence of a supposedly evil US government. Once set free, Assange is just another nutter railing against the deep state.
GuruMick
Trump is also a "nutter railing against the deep state "?
Drain the swamp...free the crocodiles...
bass4funk
And was proven right over and over again. That’s why the guy is admired globally.
Concerned Citizen
@bass4funk
Respect.
Concerned Citizen
Thank God! The poor guy is a true hero. A man of conviction willing to suffer immensely for what is right. US, British and Aussie (especially) officials and politicians should be utterly ashamed of themselves.
UChosePoorly
12 years is enough. He won’t do it again. I am ok with this.
UChosePoorly
I encourage any anti-American types to move to Russia. I will help them pack.
stormcrow
It's not so much what he did, but how he did it.
Names of people were not redacted from his highly sensitive information releases as a responsible news organization would have done. Did anybody die as a result of Assange's reckless reporting? If anybody died because of him, then that's one too many.
bass4funk
You mean, the media that’s in bed with many of these politicians on the left and right, in the U.S. and globally? No, they should get hit with all the sunlight, let the chips fall where they may. Why should they be shielded when they caused so much damage globally?
Hard to say, but the people have the absolute right to know who screwed them over.
Then these politicians should have thought of that before they betrayed the people they swore to uphold and protect. Again, this is not a right or left issue for me, it’s about right and wrong.
bass4funk
I disagree
Then this administration should git to packin.
UChosePoorly
How much more time did you want him to serve, Bass?
bass4funk
Zero.
UChosePoorly
Then what do you disagree with? You think he will do it again?
commanteer
I see you have upgraded from rose-colored glasses to VR goggles. Truly, many Americans live in an alternate reality these days.
kurisupisu
Hostage Justice-imprisonment without trial!
Just like China or North Korean…
TaiwanIsNotChina
He literally refused to go for his trial. If it were Russia/China/NK he offended he would not be alive.
TaiwanIsNotChina
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2023/06/27/overall-opinion-of-the-u-s/
theFu
True. I'm very aware of this, but Assange didn't hack anything inside the USA. He was provided the documents from a secret source, which is generally protected in the US legal system.
The people who hacked the US govt to get the data are did something illegal. The only way it wouldn't be illegal from a common sense standpoint would be if the documents magically arrived in their hands, which we know didn't happen.
As for the US trying to push what it wants outside the USA through international trade, that should only apply to residents of the US or people who want/need to use US banking systems for money transfers.
I'm good with the US embargo on Cuba. I also don't have any issues with other countries going around the US to trade with Cuba, provided there aren't any US-made items included and no US banking infrastructure is used. Same for Iran and Venezuela and Nicaragua. Let them trade in gold as a method of payment.
Europe isn't dumb. They listen to what all sides wish, realize the repercussions going with any specific side's wishes and then chose their action. With Putin invading countries, keeping the US as a friend is a smart move. Just ask Finland and Sweden. We already had good relations with them and had military ties outside NATO. Thanks to Putin, they will be joining NATO. Nice job Putty.
If I "found" secrets from Moscow or Beijing somehow, I would have handed them off to the FBI and perhaps a few respected news outlets to ensure the stories weren't buried when they could be used to embarrass those authoritarian countries. I'd expect both would be very unhappy, but I'd do it in a way to prevent any traceability back to me. Let the journalists and Feds take the heat, if they can't handle secure materials properly. Most of the top, reputable, news companies have anonymous drop boxes online these days. I won't get into how I'd do it, but rest assured, It wouldn't be traced back to me.
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Smiling and homeward bound on the plane today.
Loved his defiance and wording in his plea.
I heard he crossed his fingers behind his back while he uttered the falsehood.
Very smart cookie.
commanteer
The same poll also found a similar percentage have confidence in Biden's handling of foreign affairs. Polls are silly things and mostly meaningless. And the average person's opinion of global affairs is uninformed and changes overnight.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yes, yes, all the polls are lies. Russia is actually the most popular country.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Do you think that will change the legal record?
lostrune2
Assange got his freedom; the US got their conviction - everybody got something
The US isn't even in Afghanistan anymore, and minimal presence in Iraq. A dozen years is enough
Australia has been pushing hard for this the last few years. The US has other enemies now, and they need Australia's help more than they need Assange. So, this was a favor to Australia in exchange for other favors
Zaphod
Better late than never, but really this persecution remains a stain on American policy.