WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange walks free in Saipan after espionage admission

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange emerged from a courtroom in the US Pacific island territory of Saipan a free man, having pled guilty to violating US espionage laws in a landmark deal that paves the way for his return to Australia, marking the culmination of an extraordinary legal odyssey.

In a three-hour court hearing, Assange admitted to a single count of conspiring to obtain and publish classified US national defence documents, asserting his actions were protected by the first amendment’s guarantees of free speech.