Free Julian Assange. He has already left for the Mariana Islands

An agreement with the United States Department of Justice allowed the communicator to go to a judicial process in the Federal Court of the Mariana Islands, where he will plead guilty to crimes and receive a sentence of 62 months in prison, which he has already served. The hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Saipan, the largest island of the Marianas. Assange was seen leaving a London airport to go to the hearing site and then leave for Australia. The presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro; of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel; of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; of Bolivia, Luis Arce and of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as several former presidents, including Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, separately celebrated Assange’s release. The statement from the Metropolitan Council of the College of Journalists of Chile.

Agencies. London. Washington. 6/25/2024. The founder of WikileaksJulian Assange, will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department on Monday, court documents filed yesterday show, resolving a lengthy legal saga that spanned several continents and centered on Washington’s prosecution of the release of classified documents, which was led by the long-imprisoned London-based ex-secretary.

This judicial maneuver, which was worked on in recent months between US authorities and Assange’s lawyers, especially after the English courts denied his extradition to the United States, meant in fact that the journalist was freed.

Julian Assange was released from the maximum security Belmarsh prison on June 24, after spending 1,901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and taken to Stansted Airport in the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and left the United Kingdom, the statement said. Wikileaks on his social network account X.

Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the western Pacific, to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information, the Justice Department said in a letter filed with the court, reported by the newspaper. The Washington Post.

The plea, which must be approved by Judge Ramona V. Manglona, ​​will end an international intrigue criminal case and a years-long White House pursuit of a publisher whose popular information-sharing Web site made him a cause for concern for many press freedom advocates who claimed he was acting as a journalist to expose crimes committed by the U.S. military.

Investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly claimed that his actions violated laws meant to protect sensitive information and endangered U.S. national security.

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday in Saipan, the largest island in the Marianas. The legal proceedings will be held there because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to the U.S. mainland and its proximity to Australia.

Assange is expected to be sentenced to 62 months in prison, which has already been served, and is expected to return home after the hearing.

The cyber activist’s wife, Stella Assange, took to social media to thank the people who spent years campaigning to secure her husband’s release.

“Words cannot express our immense gratitude to you, yes, you, who have worked for years and years to make this a reality. Thank you,” he posted on X.

Wikileaks X noted that Assange’s release is “the result of a global campaign that included grassroots organizers, press freedom advocates, lawmakers and leaders across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.”

“After more than five years in a 2-by-3-metre cell, isolated for 23 hours a day, he will soon be reunited with his wife, Stella Assange, and his children, who have only known their father behind bars,” it said.

Wikileaks published groundbreaking stories about government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid a heavy price for these principles and for the people’s right to information.

“As we return to Australia, we thank all those who supported us, fought for us and remained fully committed to the fight for his freedom. Julian’s freedom is our freedom,” the website created by Assange said.

Wikileaks It was founded by Assange in 2006, but rose to prominence in 2010 when it began publishing large-scale leaks of classified government information, particularly from the United States.

In 2010, the site released hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on Washington’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the largest such security breach in U.S. military history, along with diplomatic cables.

Assange was charged during the administration of former President Donald Trump for the mass publication of secret US documents on the website Wikileaks, which were leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former US military intelligence analyst who was also prosecuted under the Espionage Act.

The more than 700,000 documents included diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts, such as a 2007 video of a helicopter “Apache” shooting at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. That video was made public in 2010.

Assange was first arrested in the UK in 2010 on a European arrest warrant over allegations of rape, which he denied, but was placed under house arrest at his rural English home until May 2012, when the High Court in London agreed to his extradition to Sweden, which subsequently dropped the case against Assange.

In June of that year, the journalist took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he spent seven years during the government of Rafael Correa. With the arrival to power of Lenín Moreno in Ecuador, the country stopped granting asylum to the Australian, and Assange was dragged out of the diplomatic headquarters in April 2019 and imprisoned in Belmarsh prison, where Assange married his partner and member of his legal team, Stella, with whom he has two children conceived while he was a refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy.

In November 2010, Wikileaks chose five international publications to hand over hundreds of thousands of confidential diplomatic cables: the British The Guardianthe French The worldthe American The New York Timesthe Spanish The country and the German weekly The mirror.

On January 18, 2011, Assange, who was then a free man, selected a The Day to deliver thousands of diplomatic cables related to Mexico, and a team of reporters from this publishing house prepared the articles that appeared in our pages and on a special website.

In the book “Mexico in Wikileaks: Wikileaks in La Jornada”edited by The Day In 2012, under the coordination of Pedro Miguel, a detailed account was made of the confidential cables leaked to that portal about Mexico, and which were published in this newspaper.

The presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro; of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel; of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; of Bolivia, Luis Arce; and of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as several former presidents, including Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, separately celebrated Assange’s release.

Statement by the Metropolitan Council of the College of Journalists

Full text of the statement issued by the Metropolitan Council of the College of Journalists of Chile on the release of Julian Assange:

The Metropolitan Council of the College of Journalists of Chile expresses its deep satisfaction at the release of Julian Assange on June 24, 2024, in London, despite having to plead guilty to charges that we do not share.

Press freedom is an essential pillar of democracy and human rights, and Assange’s prolonged imprisonment has provided a stark reminder of the challenges facing journalists around the world.

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has been a central figure in the fight for transparency and accountability of governments and corporations. His arrest and subsequent prosecution were based on accusations related to the publication of classified documents that revealed acts of corruption, human rights violations and abuses of power on a global level. These acts, although controversial, have significantly contributed to exposing illicit practices and strengthening democracy by highlighting the need for greater transparency and public accountability.

In Chile, journalists have played a crucial role in exposing multiple cases of corruption and abuse of power that have impacted public trust in institutions. The tireless work of the media in investigating and exposing these cases underlines the importance of free and unrestricted journalism.

As a College of Journalists, we reaffirm our unrestricted commitment to defending press freedom in all its forms. It is imperative that journalists can carry out their work without fear of reprisals or being criminalized for fulfilling their duty to inform. The persecution of Assange and other journalists committed to the truth must be seen as a reminder of the dangers faced by those who challenge the status quo for the common good.

We express our regret at the decision of President Gabriel Boric’s government not to intervene diplomatically in the Assange case. However, we deeply value and appreciate the mobilization of more than 600 people who signed a letter urging the Chilean president to act in defense of the principles that guide our work. This show of support reflects civil society’s commitment to protecting press freedom and the right to truthful and timely information.

We urge all governments to respect and protect press freedom as a fundamental human right. Assange’s release is a tremendously important step, but underscores the continued need to protect journalists who risk their lives to fulfil the right to information.

June 24, 2024.