Washington: A US federal court on Wednesday ordered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who pleaded guilty to a single felony count of violating the Espionage Act, should be released immediately.
The order was issued by a US federal court in Saipan with Judge Ramona Manglona saying that Assange will leave the court as ‘a free man’.
The judge said that it is fair to accept the 62 months, which he has already spent in a cell in the UK, as his sentence. “You will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man,” judge Manglona said.
Earlier, Assange pleaded guilty in court as part of a deal with the US Justice Department to avoid further prison time and end the years-long legal saga.
The Wikileaks founder on Wednesday morning arrived in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, after being freed from the UK prison, where he spent five years.
Australia’s ambassador to the US and former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith were also present in the court.
Assange will now fly home to Australia’s capital, Canberra.
IANS with edits