On June 25, a U.S. court on the island of Saipan approved a deal providing for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in exchange for a partial guilty plea. This is reported by Reuters.
Assange agreed to the accusations of violating the American espionage Act. He was sentenced to 62 months in prison, which he had already served in the UK, and was released in the courtroom.
"While working as a journalist, I called on my source to provide information that was allegedly classified in order to publish it. I believed that the First Amendment [of the US Constitution] protects this activity, but I recognize a violation of the espionage Act," Assange said.
Lawyer Barry Pollack added that WikiLeaks will continue to work, and the founder of the site "will advocate for freedom of speech and government transparency."
After his release, Assange will travel to Australia, where his wife and two children are waiting for him. He is prohibited from entering the United States without prior permission.
After the journalist's release from prison, the AssangeDAO (JUSTICE) token showed growth. The coin has gained 300% in a week, according to CoinGecko.
The project was created in February 2022 to raise funds for the freedom struggle of the founder of WikiLeaks. Representatives of AssangeDAO said that more than 11,000 ETH (~$34 million) has been allocated for Assange's legal defense. In total, DAO collected 16,593 ETH.
On February 8,2022,we raised 16,593.05878 ETH for Julian,the funds provide a vast majority of support for his freedom!
it‘s an unprecedented great action,proves the blockchain can save people,$Justice token will expand more space!
cypherpunks,let's unite! pic.twitter.com/O0IHhwElSi
A long story
In 2006, Assange founded a non-profit organization and the WikiLeaks website of the same name, which published confidential information obtained from sources.
The project became more famous in 2010, when Assange released materials from the US State Department and the Pentagon. It included diplomatic correspondence and information about war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shortly after that, the American authorities initiated an investigation against the journalist.
In 2012, while hiding from persecution in the UK, he requested political asylum from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He lived in the diplomatic mission building for almost seven years.
However, in 2019, the President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, deprived Assange of the right to political asylum under the pretext of violating the "international rule on non-interference in the internal affairs of other states."
After that, he was detained by the British police and sent to prison, where he spent five years awaiting a decision on extradition to the United States. At the same time, the US Department of Justice filed numerous charges against Assange regarding violations of espionage laws.
In total, he was charged with 18 criminal incidents, but as a result, he confessed to only one. Theoretically, the journalist could face up to 170 years in prison.
Recall that in 2023, Assange spoke at a meeting in the non-profit metaverse of The Sandbox ecosystem, where a "rally" against his extradition took place.
In February 2022, digital artist Pak announced a collaboration with the founder of WikiLeaks to launch an NFT line called Censored.