The US get to show just how tough they are on whistleblowers and their associates.
Assange gets to go home.
If I was him, I'd keep my head down and try to get to know my kids.
"If I was him, I'd keep my head down and try to get to know my kids."
Wouldn't that just mean that the threats worked? The corrupt won?
I mean, the point of whistleblowing is to do so in spite of the threat of punishment, right?
He plead guilty. The US has successfully convicted a foreign publisher under its Espionage Act. Assange, WikiLeaks and everyone on their side in this decades long struggle has ultimately lost.
Yes, the threats worked and the corrupt won.
Now he gets to see his kids.
I'd choose that too.
You can call it cowardice, I'd call it pragmatism.
I'm not calling anyone a coward.
I'm just less sure it's the end of anything.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
WikiLeaks announced Mr Assange's whereabouts shortly after court documents showed he was due to plead guilty this week to violating US espionage law, in a deal that would allow him to return home to Australia.
WikiLeaks posted a statement on social media platform X saying Mr Assange was free and had left the UK on Monday morning local time.
Mr Assange's father, John Shipton, told ABC Victorian Mornings his son had spent 15 of his most productive years "in some form of incarceration or another".
"We are aware Australian citizen Mr Julian Assange has legal proceedings scheduled in the United States," a spokesperson said.
"Prime Minister Albanese has been clear — Mr Assange's case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration."
Many press freedom advocates have argued that criminally charging Mr Assange represents a threat to free speech.
The original article contains 843 words, the summary contains 148 words. Saved 82%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Why Saipan?
Its technically US soil, so he could enter his plea there in a US court, but its the closest place to Australia, because he obviously refused to step foot on the American continent.
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