Julian Assange ends stalemate with US, exchanging guilty plea to felony charge for his freedom
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Julian Assange Free After US Court Accepts Plea Deal
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The Facts
Julian Assange is free after a US court in the Pacific island of Saipan accepted his plea deal on Wednesday, bringing an end to a 14-year legal ordeal.
News of the WikiLeaks founder's deal with the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) first started to spread early Tuesday, with his organization's social media releasing a video showing Assange — who had been in a UK prison for five years — board a plane ultimately headed for the US Pacific island a day earlier.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
While Assange is a controversial figure who did break US laws, most can agree that this episode has gone on too long without resolution. As such, it's in the interests of justice and all involved for this deal to have been made and for Assange to be released after five years in prison.
Establishment-critical narrative
While it is good news that Assange has been released, it cannot be said that justice has been done. Assange was doing important journalistic work and was imprisoned after exposing US war crimes. Justice would mean an apology from the US, compensation for all it has put him through, as well as putting the perpetrators of the war crimes — not those who exposed them — in prison.