Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been ordered to be released immediately by a US federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. The court’s decision follows Assange’s guilty plea to a single felony count of violating the Espionage Act.
Judge Ramona Manglona stated that the 62 months Assange has already spent in a UK prison would be accepted as his sentence. “You will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man,” Judge Manglona announced.
Assange’s guilty plea was part of a deal with the US Justice Department to avoid further imprisonment and bring an end to the prolonged legal battles he has faced.
Having been freed from the UK prison where he spent five years, Assange arrived in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, earlier on Wednesday.
Australia’s ambassador to the US and former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, along with the High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, were present in the courtroom for the proceedings.
Assange is expected to fly back home to Canberra, Australia’s capital.
