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Australian Wikileaks boss Julian Assange is free, following a plea deal.

While immediate, his release is conditional.

Assange’s future freedom rests on pleading guilty to the United States Justice Department’s charge of espionage.

This has to be signed off by a federal judge, which is set to take place in Saipan, capital of the Mariana Islands – an autonomous Western Pacific nation “voluntarily united” with the U.S.

Assange will be sentenced at a later date.

Other than being neutral ground, AP News added that the territory was chosen by Assange because of its distance from the United States mainland and its proximity to Australia.

He is expected to admit to “an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information.”

Compromise

A court filing from the DOJ, posted online by Reuters, read,

“We anticipate that the defendant will plead guilty, and be sentenced by the court for that offense.’

“We appreciate the court accommodating the plea and sentencing proceedings on a single day at the joint request of the parties, in light of the defendant’s opposition to travelling to the U.S continent.”

“We expect he will return to Australia at the conclusion of the proceedings,” the 25 June filing concluded.

Wikileaks broke the news on X, stating:

“Assange left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there.”

Granted bail by the British high court, Assange was released “at Stansted Airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane, and departed the UK.”

Julian Assange boards flight at London Stansted Airport at 5PM (BST) Monday June 24th. This is for everyone who worked for his freedom: thank you.#FreedJulianAssange pic.twitter.com/Pqp5pBAhSQ

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2024

Crediting widespread free press advocacy, Wikileaks attributed the breakthrough to,

“a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.”

The group also used the post to thank supporters, reiterating that the “deal was yet to be formalised.”

Assange’s tentative release ends a fourteen-year-long web of intrigue, imprisonment, confinement, and litigation.

Media Spin

Contrary to Wikileaks, AP News attributed Assange’s freedom to Biden’s beneficence.

They suggested Assange’s release was a gift from Biden’s bureaucrats to the Australian government, who had requested the DOJ drop its prosecution.

Reuters, and Sky News’ Andrew Clennell, bypassing long-time “Free Assange” advocates, which include George Christensen, Alex Antic and Ross Cameron, credited Assange’s release to Albanese government pressure.

Legacy media’s high praise seems to ignore the actual plea agreement taking into account Assange’s five years solitary, served in a maximum-security prison.

George Christenson seemed to be as sceptical as I am.

On Substack, the former MP wrote,

“I visited Julian Assange in Belmarsh prison back in early 2020 (prior to the pandemic alarmism), where I got a sense of his situation and the intricacies of the charges against him.

“This development is bittersweet, given that a guilty plea has to be entered.

“So, should we cheer for White House resident Joe Biden for this crumb from the table? Most certainly not!”

The applause for Albanese, and Biden’s leniency, smacks of political convenience.

Christensen, who met Assange in 2020, told The Daily Declaration,

“Assange was still sharp, and clearly feared for his safety, and the safety of his family.”

Asked if he thought the deal was politically motivated, George answered,

“It’s likely the issue had become too politically hot for Washington, especially for Biden.

“No doubt, Albanese probably helped push the case over the line, but it was Assange’s advocates who’ve made the biggest difference.”

Christenson then asserted, “The plea deal should be a complete pardon.”

Playing Politics

Assange was indicted under the Trump administration in 2019.

Even though Trump had apparently told Alex Antic that he would pardon Assange if he’d won the 2020 election.

Additionally, the persecution of Assange goes back as far as the Bush Jr administration.

This exploded into a political witch-hunt under Obama’s watch.

The plea deal, to be ratified on Wednesday, is the closure of an ordeal that began with Assange agreeing to publish sensitive material stolen by LGBTrans-identifying former intelligence analyst Bradley Manning (known as Chelsea Manning).

Manning’s sentence was commuted by Barack Obama in 2017.

The trans-identifying ex-analyst was represented by far-left lawfare group, ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) lawyers.

Obama commuting Manning’s sentence, without pardoning Assange, gave rise to the possibility that Manning had set Wikileaks up.

Assange fell out of favour with the establishment left after publishing emails from Hilary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

As great as Assange’s release is, it’s another election year in the United States.

For an increasingly desperate Biden campaign – Democrats have already written off Florida – having the goodwill of Wikileaks on side might “pay” dividends.

Scepticism aside, celebrating the news, Spectator editor-in-chief Rowan Dean wrote,

“Julian Assange free. Kudos and congrats to my great friend and former colleague Ross Cameron who campaigned passionately and tirelessly for this outcome.”

Responding to the news, Cameron, President of the New South Wales Libertarian Party, simply quoted Assange’s mother.

Grateful for her son’s release, Christine Assange said in a statement,

“This shows the importance of quiet diplomacy.

“Many have used my son’s situation to push their own agendas, so I am grateful to those unseen, hard-working people who put Julian’s welfare first.”

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.