Julian Assange walks free after pleading guilty to US espionage charge in Saipan court
by Helen Davidson in Saipan from World news | The Guardian on (#6NS7Q)
US plea deal allows WikiLeaks founder to return to Australia after an extraordinary legal fight spanning more than a decade
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has walked free from a court in the US Pacific island territory of Saipan, after pleading guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that left him free to return home to Australia and brought an end to an extraordinary 14 year legal saga.
On Wednesday, the US's smallest and most remote federal district court accepted a plea deal reached between Assange and the US government, under terms which required him to admit guilt to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.
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