'Today is a historic day': Julian Assange's long-time lawyer celebrates his return to Australia

After a decades-long ordeal Assange plead guilty to one felony charge of obtaining and publishing classified information and was released from prison to be reunited with his family.

This came after he pleaded guilty to one felony criminal charge of obtaining and publishing US military secrets in a new plea deal. The 52-year-old Australian journalist has spent years fighting extradition to the US over espionage charges related to the release of hundreds of thousands of classified US documents that detailed U-S military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy says in a statement that the "longstanding and difficult case" has come to a close and "the United States is grateful to the Government of Australia for their commitment and assistance throughout this process." Addressing the court, Assange said he believed the Espionage Act, under which he was charged, contradicted First Amendment rights but that he accepted that encouraging sources to provide classified information for publication can be unlawful.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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