Good evening. Earlier this evening, earlier today in a courthouse in Saipan, we had a hearing that brought to a close a prosecution that never should have been brought. Julian Assange has for so many years sacrificed, for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, he's sacrificed his own freedom and, finally today that tragic situation ended, and we are all grateful that Julian is back home in Australia where he belongs, back with Stella, back with his children, reunited with his father. (Canberra Wikileaks Press Conference 26 June 2024)
It is unprecedented in the United States, to use the Espionage Act to criminally prosecute a journalist or a publisher in the more than 100 Year history of that law. It has never been
used in this fashion. It is certainly our hope that it will never again be used in this fashion. Julian spent years in Belmarsh [Prison]. No-one should spend a day in prison for giving the public newsworthy and important information - in this case information that the United States government had committed war crimes, that there were civilian casualties exponentially greater than the United States government had admitted in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was definitely in the public's interest to have this information, and Julian provided it to the public.
He performed a tremendous public service, not a crime. The problem with the Espionage Act is there is no First Amendment defense in the Espionage Act. It does, by its terms, not matter the reason why you you publish. For years the US government has claimed that these publications did great harm. Today in court, the the United States government admitted that there is not a single person anywhere that they can produce that was actually harmed by these publications.
Hopefully this is the end, not just of the case against Julian Assange, but the end of the case against journalism.
Thank you.
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