Julian Assange Is Free!

Off-Guardian.org

Catte B

Late last night it was suddenly reported that after five years in Belmarsh Prison – and seven years essentially under house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy – Julian Assange was pleading guilty as part a deal to secure his release.

The reported terms of the deal are that Assange will plead guilty to an infringement of the US Espionage Act, in return for a five year time-served sentence and the freedom to return home to Australia.

A plane carrying Assange reported left the UK late last night, bound for the US protectorate of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. After a hearing there, he will be flying to Australia.

Although  his family/team have posted photos and video to social media, Assange has yet to make a public comment.

A potential plea deal looked on the cards when the mainstream attitude to Assange notably softened last month. It’s middle-ground between the outright conviction and much-talked-about pardon (although a pardon is still possible, even with a plea deal, and Stella Assange told the media they intend to pursue one.).

If all is as it appears, and Assange is indeed being freed after 12 years of confinement without conviction, that is a deserved victory for Assange and his family.

The question is, is it a victory in principle for free speech? After all, he has not been declared innocent. The plea deal still admits to wrong-doing, and still sets the precedent of convicting journalists and publishers simply for reporting facts.

That’s a bad precedent. Another in a line of bad precedents the Assange case has been used to push – from detention without trial to trials in absentia.

Whatever happens it will be interesting to see the story develop, and to see what role – if any – Julian Assange will look to take in the alt-media landscape moving forward.

Original Article: https://off-guardian.org/2024/06/25/talk-thread-assange-gets-a-plea-deal/

Related:

Perpetual War

Truth11 Films 5th short film: We have been tricked into fighting perpetual wars of mass genocide for pointless profit. There is no enemy. The enemy is within the US government. All exterior enemies are created to justify the advancing military industrial complex.

There is only one way war will end. The masses must rise up, unite, and demand world peace.

This film contains the footage released by Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange.

Film Released 2011