JULIAN ASSANGE ON FLIGHT TO FREEDOM
Today, Julian Assange has stepped onto a plane today to the North Mariana Islands to enter a plea-deal, after which he is expected to walk free, and return to his home country, Australia.
The plea deal arranged is that he will plead guilty to espionage, with a sentence of 5 years, including time already spent in Belmarsh prison - effectively allowing him to walk free.
This is indeed cause for celebration.
However, that celebration is not without concern. It is widely believed that Assange has been persecuted for exposing the USA's war crimes in Iraq, that he has been smeared, and narrowly avoided extradition to the USA (via Sweden) by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy. He was allegedly the target of an assassination attempt, and in total lost his freedom for 12 years.
The Obama administration dropped the case; Trump re-opened the case; under the Biden administration, Assange's anticipated release comes only with a guilty plea and a plea deal - an offer Assange could not in any way refuse - but these facts leave the door open for further prosecutions of journalists who reveal too much of the truth - which is the job of honest journalism.
Nonetheless - the world's most famous journalist is finally set to walk free, and that is indeed cause for celebration.
Sources:
Sorry, but Freeing Julian Assange Still Comes With a Price:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sorry-but-freeing-julian-assange-still-comes-with-a-price
Stella Assange and Kristian Hrafnsson's statement: