London: The legal saga of Julian Assange, which has been dragged on for well over a decade, has been widely seen as a battle for press freedom.
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, walked free from UK prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the US Justice Department, resolving a long-running legal saga over the controversy of publishing classified documents.
Born in Townsville, Australia, in 1971, Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 to protect the interests of whistleblowers, journalists and activists with sensitive information to share.
What Charges Are Against Assange?
Assange, 52, has been indicted in the United States (US) on 17 charges of espionage and a charge of computer misuse of WikiLeaks publication of the classified documents in 2010.
Prosecutors accused Assange of conspiring with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack Pentagon systems. They further charged him for releasing secret documents and military files on the Iraq and Afghanistan war.
If convicted in the UK court, he may face imprisonment up to 175 years, although American lawmakers have said the sentence might be much lower than what is speculated.
Assange defending his side argued that he worked as a journalist to uncover US military wrongdoings and get the specific right under press freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Among the files released by Assange’s WikiLeaks was a footage of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by the American military in Baghdad, Iraq, that killed as many as 11 people.
“Julian has been indicted for receiving, possessing and communicating information to the public of evidence of war crimes committed by the U.S. government,” his wife, Stella Assange, said.
“Reporting a crime is never a crime,” she added.
The US lawyers have argued that Assange’s attempt to hack Pentagon system and releasing secret files on WikiLeaks publications triggered an imminent risk to US intelligence sources in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Julian Assange Case: What WikiLeaks’ Founder Is Charged With? Key Points world-news World News | Latest International Global World News | Todays Breaking News Headlines
