JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREED FROM BELMARSH PRISON IN PLEA DEAL
An early report in The Sydney Morning Herald described the basics of the plea deal.
June 24, 2024, Joe Lauria, Consortium News:
The newspaper said Assange pleaded “guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, the Justice Department said in a letter filed in court.”
Bruce Afran, a U.S. constitutional lawyer, and Marjorie Cohn, former president of the U.S. National Lawyers’ Guild both told Consortium News that a plea deal does not create a legal precedent. Therefore Assange’s deal would not jeopardize journalists in the future of being prosecuted for accepting and publishing classified information from a source because of Assange’s agreeing to such a charge.
The Mariana Islands are a U.S. territory where Assange will complete the deal in a U.S. federal court on Tuesday.
“Technically, he is coming to the U.S., [on the Mariana Islands] but not to the district where he was indicted,” Afran said. “And he could be taken into custody, but we assume the U.S. will act in good faith.”
It is both gratifying and inspiring to see the outpouring of relief surrounding Julian Assange as he survives the harsh captivity he has suffered. Those who stood by him for years, who made this day possible, have been on the streets for many years in his behalf.
Let us remember and give thanks for those who never gave up.