Julian Assange, founder of the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, appeared in court and was released on charges of a plea deal.
Assange, who had been released from a British detention center, appeared in federal court in the U.S. territory of Saipan on the 26th and pleaded guilty to leaking classified information.
Assange and US authorities reached a plea deal and he was sentenced to five years and two months in prison, but he was considered to have already served his time in the UK and was therefore free.
Assange is due to return to his native Australia on the 26th, bringing to an end nearly 12 years of exile and imprisonment.
Following the verdict, Assange’s lawyer said he hoped the ruling would “give hope to all imprisoned journalists and publishers around the world.”
Source: Japanese