Julian Assange Pleads Guilty to Espionage Charge, Freed After 12 Years

Subheading: WikiLeaks Founder Admits to Unauthorized Release of Classified Information

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Julian Paul Assange, the Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006, pleaded guilty to a single espionage charge in a US court on Wednesday. The plea deal comes after a 12-year legal battle and allows Assange to walk free without facing further prosecution.

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Assange admitted to violating the Espionage Act by releasing classified US military and diplomatic documents on the WikiLeaks website in 2010 and 2011. The documents, which exposed war crimes and diplomatic secrets, sparked international controversy and led to investigations and prosecutions of individuals involved in the leaks.

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Assange's release from custody marks a significant development in the long-standing legal saga. He had been held in London's Belmarsh Prison since 2019 after being extradited from Ecuador, where he had been granted asylum. Assange's lawyers have argued that he was unjustly targeted for his role in exposing government wrongdoing and that his prosecution was politically motivated.