٠٠:٠٣:٠١Julian Assange's US lawyer Barry Pollack told reporters that the prosecution of his client had sent a 'chilling precedent', while speaking outside the district courthouse in Saipan on Wednesday, after the judge accepted the WikiLeaks founder's plea deal.
"What sends a chilling precedent is the prosecution, the fact that the United States elected to charge Mr Assange with violating the Espionage Act, the court today determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange's publication," he said.
"We know that they (the WikiLeaks revelations) were newsworthy. We know that they were quoted by every major media outlet on the planet, and we know that they revealed important information. That is called journalism," he continued. "Today, the decision that it's time for Mr Assange to go home, that doesn't have a chilling effect. The chilling effect is the United States pursuing journalism as a crime. I hope this is the first and last time."
He added that the prosecution was 'unprecedented' and that "in the 100 years of the espionage act they have never been used by the United States to pursue a publisher, a journalist like Mr Assange."
"Mr Assange is grateful for all of the support that he has received, and looks forward to reuniting with his wife and his children and getting back to Australia," he said. "He is a powerful voice and a voice that cannot and should not be silenced."
Assange entered a 'guilty' plea to a single charge of espionage. While the offence carried up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Judge Ramona Manglona accepted the plea agreement and imposed a sentence of time served, amounting to the 62 months he spent in the UK's Belmarsh prison.
According to media reports, she also wished Assange a 'happy early birthday' and said he was a 'free man'. The US side confirmed that it was withdrawing the UK extradition request. Assange will now fly to Canberra.
The WikiLeaks founder left Belmarsh on Monday evening after reaching the plea deal, boarding a plane at London's Stansted Airport.
The hearing's location in Saipan - the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth - was reportedly due to its proximity to Australia and his own opposition to travelling to the United States.
He had been detained in the London prison since 2019, and fought a long-running extradition battle with the US over 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
He was initially granted political asylum by Ecuador in the British capital in 2012 but was dragged from the embassy by UK police seven years later.
'Chilling precedent' - Assange lawyer attacks US prosecution as judge sentences WikiLeaks founder to time served
Julian Assange's US lawyer Barry Pollack told reporters that the prosecution of his client had sent a 'chilling precedent', while speaking outside the district courthouse in Saipan on Wednesday, after the judge accepted the WikiLeaks founder's plea deal.
"What sends a chilling precedent is the prosecution, the fact that the United States elected to charge Mr Assange with violating the Espionage Act, the court today determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange's publication," he said.
"We know that they (the WikiLeaks revelations) were newsworthy. We know that they were quoted by every major media outlet on the planet, and we know that they revealed important information. That is called journalism," he continued. "Today, the decision that it's time for Mr Assange to go home, that doesn't have a chilling effect. The chilling effect is the United States pursuing journalism as a crime. I hope this is the first and last time."
He added that the prosecution was 'unprecedented' and that "in the 100 years of the espionage act they have never been used by the United States to pursue a publisher, a journalist like Mr Assange."
"Mr Assange is grateful for all of the support that he has received, and looks forward to reuniting with his wife and his children and getting back to Australia," he said. "He is a powerful voice and a voice that cannot and should not be silenced."
Assange entered a 'guilty' plea to a single charge of espionage. While the offence carried up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Judge Ramona Manglona accepted the plea agreement and imposed a sentence of time served, amounting to the 62 months he spent in the UK's Belmarsh prison.
According to media reports, she also wished Assange a 'happy early birthday' and said he was a 'free man'. The US side confirmed that it was withdrawing the UK extradition request. Assange will now fly to Canberra.
The WikiLeaks founder left Belmarsh on Monday evening after reaching the plea deal, boarding a plane at London's Stansted Airport.
The hearing's location in Saipan - the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth - was reportedly due to its proximity to Australia and his own opposition to travelling to the United States.
He had been detained in the London prison since 2019, and fought a long-running extradition battle with the US over 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
He was initially granted political asylum by Ecuador in the British capital in 2012 but was dragged from the embassy by UK police seven years later.
Julian Assange's US lawyer Barry Pollack told reporters that the prosecution of his client had sent a 'chilling precedent', while speaking outside the district courthouse in Saipan on Wednesday, after the judge accepted the WikiLeaks founder's plea deal.
"What sends a chilling precedent is the prosecution, the fact that the United States elected to charge Mr Assange with violating the Espionage Act, the court today determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange's publication," he said.
"We know that they (the WikiLeaks revelations) were newsworthy. We know that they were quoted by every major media outlet on the planet, and we know that they revealed important information. That is called journalism," he continued. "Today, the decision that it's time for Mr Assange to go home, that doesn't have a chilling effect. The chilling effect is the United States pursuing journalism as a crime. I hope this is the first and last time."
He added that the prosecution was 'unprecedented' and that "in the 100 years of the espionage act they have never been used by the United States to pursue a publisher, a journalist like Mr Assange."
"Mr Assange is grateful for all of the support that he has received, and looks forward to reuniting with his wife and his children and getting back to Australia," he said. "He is a powerful voice and a voice that cannot and should not be silenced."
Assange entered a 'guilty' plea to a single charge of espionage. While the offence carried up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Judge Ramona Manglona accepted the plea agreement and imposed a sentence of time served, amounting to the 62 months he spent in the UK's Belmarsh prison.
According to media reports, she also wished Assange a 'happy early birthday' and said he was a 'free man'. The US side confirmed that it was withdrawing the UK extradition request. Assange will now fly to Canberra.
The WikiLeaks founder left Belmarsh on Monday evening after reaching the plea deal, boarding a plane at London's Stansted Airport.
The hearing's location in Saipan - the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth - was reportedly due to its proximity to Australia and his own opposition to travelling to the United States.
He had been detained in the London prison since 2019, and fought a long-running extradition battle with the US over 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
He was initially granted political asylum by Ecuador in the British capital in 2012 but was dragged from the embassy by UK police seven years later.