Ivan Kesić, a writer and data analyst from Croatia, argues that although Julian Assange has been freed, he remains a convict because he was forced into a plea deal, making the USA the ultimate winner. Writing for PressTV, Kesić says that due to a request from the Australian government, the US and British governments agreed to release Assange with a plea deal. He claims Assange was coerced into accepting this deal.
Julian Assange, a 51-year-old Australian journalist and activist, became famous for leaking US government secrets on his WikiLeaks website. He had been in a legal battle for over 12 years and was arrested and imprisoned in London while hiding in the UK.
Kesić writes that in February, the Australian parliament passed a motion urging the US and UK to allow Assange to return to Australia, where his family lives. In May 2024, US President Joe Biden considered dropping the prosecution against Assange at Australia’s request.
After several discussions, Assange agreed to plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act, with prosecutors agreeing to a five-year sentence, which matched the time he had already served in a British prison. He appeared in a federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Pacific, to admit to obtaining and sharing classified national defense information.
This plea deal is seen as coerced due to Assange’s long deprivation of liberty, thus validating the US indictment and British imprisonment.
According to Kesić, human rights activists and Assange’s lawyer warn that his case sets a dangerous precedent for journalists and whistleblowers. They argue that the forced guilty plea raises serious concerns about press freedom in the US.
Kesić quotes Craig Murray, a former British diplomat and friend of Assange, who said, “The danger was spending the rest of his life in a maximum security jail in the United States, so this is coercion. Julian Assange did nothing wrong. Julian Assange exposed US war crimes.”
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, is also quoted by Kesić, saying, “While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by allowing journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers.” Kesić concludes that this precedent will negatively impact freedom of expression.
Julian Assange Released: WikiLeaks Founder Heads Home to Australia After Guilty Plea
