– This is a historic day. It’s the end of a 14-year legal battle, attorney Jennifer Robinson told the press outside the courthouse on Saipan. A few minutes earlier, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had been released by the court on the Pacific island. The lawyers of Julian Assange, Barry Pollack and Jennifer Robinson outside the court building on Saipon Photo: Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters / NTB Assange was sentenced to 62 months in prison, after pleading guilty to publishing classified information. He has already served the sentence in Great Britain. He is thus a free man. The main character himself was tight-lipped when he came out of the court building, but he nodded in appreciation to people who congratulated him on the way to the car. Assange will now return home to Australia, according to Wikileaks. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrived at the district court on Saipan on the night of Wednesday Norwegian time. Photo: Eugene Hoshiko / AP / NTB Made an agreement with the USA On Monday, Wikileaks wrote on X that Julian Assange had been released from prison in Great Britain, after having made an agreement with the USA. On Tuesday evening, NTB wrote that Assange has landed on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean, an island territory belonging to the United States. Around midnight on Wednesday night, he arrived at the courthouse on Saipan. Facts about Julian Assange and Wikileaks Assange is one of the founders of Wikileaks, which on several occasions published large amounts of classified material from a number of countries. In the USA, Wikileaks published documents about the USA’s warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, which showed that the USA had committed war crimes. In 2010, he visits also Assange Sweden. He is later reported for rape by a woman in connection with the visit. In 2012, the British Supreme Court concluded that he could be extradited to Sweden. Assange feared that Sweden would extradite him to the United States and sought refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London. In 2019, Ecuador withdrew Assange’s protection, and British police entered the embassy and arrested him. Assange has since then been in Belmarsh prison in London. In May 2019, accused The US charged him with violating the US Espionage Act. Assange risked 175 years in prison In November 2019, the Swedish authorities announced that they were dropping the rape case against him In 2022, the British government approved the extradition of Assange to the United States. Since then, he has tried to change the decision in several rounds of the judiciary. On 24 June 2024, it became known that Assange has entered into an agreement with the United States and, via an island in the Pacific Ocean, is on his way home to Australia War crimes revealed Assange was initially indicted for violation of an espionage clause in the United States, after leaking huge amounts of classified documents related to the wars the United States led in Iraq and Afghanistan. The documents showed that the US had committed war crimes in its warfare in the Middle East. The Americans wanted him extradited so they could put him on trial. Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, but has spent the last five years in a high-risk prison in London. In the US, he risked 175 years in prison. The agreement Assange has now been presented comes after considerable pressure against President Joe Biden. Demonstrations in support of Assange outside the High Court in London, 20 May this year. Photo: Kin Cheung / AP – Whirlwind of emotions – Now that he returns to Australia, we thank all those who have stood by our side, fought for us and have stood steadfast in the fight for his freedom, writes Wikileaks in a post on X. – Julian’s freedom is our freedom, they end the post. Supporters of Assange have said for a number of years that they feared he would not survive the lengthy legal process. Several have also demanded his release. Among them is his wife Stella Assange. – I feel a whirlwind of emotions. It feels like it’s not real, she told the BBC on Tuesday. – So much time has passed that I am not used to talking about Julian as a free man in real time. Assange has not yet commented on the agreement with the US, the release or the journey home itself. Published 26.06.2024, at 03.04 Updated 26.06.2024, at 05.09
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Julian Assange released by an American court – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
