WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange concluded deal with the US Department of Justice. The journalist pleaded guilty to one count of espionage.
According to available information, the agreement with the American authorities provides for a prison sentence of five years for Assange. However, due to the fact that the journalist had already spent a similar period in a British prison, the court counted this time to him and released him on bail.
Immediately after leaving prison, the 52-year-old founder of WiliLeaks left for Australia. The US authorities also abandoned attempts to extradite the journalist and stopped prosecuting him.
The Justice Ministry accused Assange of espionage for publishing confidential information. It concerned military conflicts involving the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. On these charges, the journalist faced a prison sentence of up to 175 years.
From 2012 to 2019, the creator of WikiLeaks was constantly in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK. Ultimately, the leadership of the mentioned country deprived Assange of political asylum and expelled him from the diplomatic establishment.
After this, UK law enforcement authorities arrested the journalist. He was accused of violating his bail conditions. He spent the next five years in prison while US authorities tried to extradite him.
The story of Julian Assange is closely intertwined with the field of crypto assets. Back in 2014, the creator of WikiLeaks announced that his portal was supported by holders of the first cryptocurrency. Initially, the online resource refrained from accepting donations in Bitcoin due to a personal request from Satoshi Nakamoto, the journalist assures.
According to him, this was determined so as not to attract additional attention to the asset from the authorities of different countries. However, later, after a significant increase in Bitcoin, the situation changed, Assange claims.
In 2017, rumors about the journalist’s death began to spread online. To refute these reports, the founder of WikiLeaks went on air and read out the hash of the latest Bitcoin block at that time.
In addition, the crypto community has repeatedly held events in support of Julian Assange. For example, to finance legal costs associated with the confrontation with the US authorities, users of digital assets donated over 16,500 ETH to him. In August 2023, a rally in support of the journalist also took place in the metaverse.
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Source: Cryptocurrency
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