Julian Assange’s plea deal: a suitable end to a grubby saga
America was right to have sought his extradition. But a bit of compassion now does not go amiss
WHEN an unwanted house guest finally departs, the relief is palpable. So it is with the news that Julian Assange has left Britain. On June 24th the founder of WikiLeaks, a website that publishes classified and sensitive information, walked out of Belmarsh, a high-security prison in south-east London where he has spent the past five years, and hopped on a plane to Thailand. From there he flew to the Northern Mariana Islands, an American territory in the Pacific, where he pleaded guilty to one charge of violating America’s espionage laws. That fulfilled his side of a deal with the American government, which in return allowed him to go home to Australia. On June 26th he landed in Canberra, a free man.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Hero, villain, house guest”
Britain June 29th 2024
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From the June 29th 2024 edition
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