
(FeaturedHeadlines.com) The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, reached a plea deal with the US government, which finally allowed him to go back to his home country of Australia as a free man after 14 years of legal trouble.
Imprisoned in London, Assange was fighting his battle against the American government, which wanted him to be extradited to the States to prosecute him further. However, the American efforts were challenged in British courts, which allowed Assange to remain in the UK.
Now, he reached a plea deal with US prosecutors for violating the Espionage Act and managed to secure his release to bring a historic case to its conclusion.
Free speech advocates have long established that the case against Assange was the biggest threat to the First Amendment. They compare his case with Chelsea Manning, who helped Assange get access to classified information and has already been released after completing her jail term.
The Australian government played a critical role in securing his release, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese complained that the case has been dragged over the years with no apparent progress.
Assange’s family documented his journey from London to Canberra and released photos during the chartered flight. He came out of the plane waving his fist and hugged his wife, Stella Assange, who is a lawyer by profession and was also representing him in the legal battle.
Stella also requested people to contribute to covering the $520,000 of the flight expenses, which the couple is supposed to pay back to the Australian government. An anonymous donor immediately donated $500,000 in bitcoins to honor this request.
Over the years, Assange defended his actions and claimed that being a journalist, he was only doing his job and trying to bring the information to the public, adding that the First Amendment directly contradicts the Espionage Act. However, Assange also admitted that winning such a high-profile case seemed impossible, which eventually urged him to enter a plea deal.
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