A judge of the US Federal District Court on the island of Saipan approved an agreement between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the Justice Department, under which he partially pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act. The judge sentenced the journalist to the time he has already served in prison in the UK and announced the closure of the case. This is reported from the courtroom of the central bank and the Guardian, writes UNN.
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It is also noted that American lawyers in the UK have withdrawn a request for Assange's extradition.
When announcing the verdict, the judge noted that Julian Assange spent about five years" in one of the strictest institutions " in the UK — Belmarsh prison, and, according to the prosecution's statement, the classified information received and published by him did not lead to victims.
"All things considered, your 62 months were fair, reasonable and proportionate to the actual prison term. For these reasons, I actually sentence you to the time you have served," the judge said.
"It looks like you can leave this courtroom as a free person," she added.
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After the verdict was announced, Assange was once again asked if he understood all the terms of the deal. In response, he answered in the affirmative, and then hugged his lawyers.
The defense also said that the work of WikiLeaks will continue, and Julian Assange will continue to defend freedom of speech.
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Julian Assange is an Australian journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, specializing in the publication of classified and confidential information. In 2010, the site published materials related to US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In this regard, the United States charged him with 18 counts for violating the Espionage Act. The journalist faced 175 years in prison.