Assange release heralds dark legacy for press freedom [Video]

While the release of Julian Assange is to be celebrated, the outcome is far from the victory for press freedom that some are applauding, writes Dr Binoy Kampmark.

ONE OF THE LONGEST sagas of political persecution is coming to its terminus. That is, if you believe in final chapters.

Nothing about the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seems determinative. His accusers and inquisitors will draw some delight at the plea deal reached between Assange’s legal team and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Others, such as former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence thought it unjustifiably lenient. 

Alleged to have committed 18 offences, 17 novelly linked to the odious Espionage Act, the June 2020 superseding indictment against Assange was a frontal assault on the freedoms of publishing and discussing classified government information.

Assange arrived in Saipan, located in the U.S. commonwealth territory of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, to face a fresh indictment…