How does it feel to be a freeman,
Mr. Assad? I'm here outside the US District Court for
the Northern Mariana Islands,
and Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange just pleaded guilty to
one count of violating the US Espionage Act.
In return, Assange was able to walk out of here
a freeman after spending more than five years in a
British prison.
In 2010, his organization obtained and published classified military and
diplomatic documents.
It's clear that it will shape an understanding of what
the past six years of war has been like.
Court One of the most memorable moments was when Assange
said that as a journalist,
he should be protected by the 1st Amendment.
100 years of the Espionage Act,
it has never been used by the United States to
pursue a publisher,
a journalist like Mr. Assange.
It's unusual to have a hearing like this in an
island like Saipan,
which is palm trees and otherwise sleepy and not often
a source of international news.
But it is AUS territory,
and it's close to Assange's home country of Australia.
Assange is now on a plane back to Australia,
where he expects to be reunited with his wife and
his children.