Julian Assange freed in US plea deal, Wikileaks says | BBC News

After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free.

Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files - which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - endangered lives.

Assange spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US.

#Wikileaks #JulianAssange #BBCNews

[Verdent]

Didn’t endanger lives. It revealed the evil within .

[heitoramos]

One man vs an entire empire. True Hero! Thank you mr Assange!

[michellehiggs]

A real journalist should never be put in prison for telling the truth.

[adammorehouse]

Where was the Australian government all these years? Bloody disgraceful!

[jake]

Shame on BBC for never reporting on this until now. Julian Assange is everything a real journalist should be.

[make-believe]

The price of embarrassing the establishment.

[spores]

Julian was never guilty. He is a whistleblower with a conscience.

[amilaperera]

The Hero of Our Time. Watching from Sri Lanka

[Buttsy]

Illegally enter a country, no charge. Say words the establishment don't like, serious prison time. What an absolute piss take.

[mirajarvis]

Julian deserves to be free- he was only speaking the truth as a journalist. All journalists need to be free to speak truth even if the governments don’t like the truth. There is no evidence of any one’s life being in danger. Free press is important.

[adamdilem]

Shame on the UK, Shame on the USA, Shame on the BBC and all mainstream media.
Thank you Assange for your courage and for unmasking the criminals that rule the world. Your sacrifice will be remembered for generations to come.

[ddoherty]

Ridiculous, the man is not an American. He should never have been arrested, he should never have been imprisoned. He should be massively compensated by both the US and UK governments. Belmarsh for contempt of a Kangaroo court, a court our whole nation gas contempt for!

[akilaliyanage]

Lesson for BBC. Truth matters. Welcome home Julian

[alfredallender]

Julian was a political prisoner in in the UK. I’m from the UK and I am disgusted in the government. no need to talk about Russia we are just as bad here 🤬

[Johnnyhardcoreever]

The people that put him in jail should be jailed

[annehinde]

Where is the proof evidence or witnesses to prove he put anyone’s life at risk ?He had to agree to this plea to get out.❤

[vitaluna]

BBC should learn what real journalism is. But they're not journos, we all know it.

[dodgyrog]

He was effectively blackmailed into pleading guilty! This is not justice!!!

[onlyme]

He did nothing wrong but if it means he can just go home and it's over he did the right thing, I have nothing but best wishes to him, he is a hero for publishing the truth, that's all he did

[dawggonevidz]

His only "crime?" Publishing evidence of brutal, callous and deadly war crimes.
The war criminals on the collateral murder video walk free, unnamed and un-shamed to this day.
That is an abominable disgrace.