This appears to be the end of a saga that has now dragged on for nearly fifteen years. Julian Assange is back in Australia after pleading guilty to conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified information. That admission was part of a plea deal that had been worked out between Assange, the UK, and the United States. He will not serve any additional time behind bars for his actions. So is this justice? I’ve been covering the stories of Assange and Chelsea Manning here for many years and watching all of this play out has frequently been frustrating for me. Since this seems to be the end of the road, I’ll share a few final reflections on what all of this means in terms of secrecy, journalism, and national security. First, here’s a brief summary of the plea deal and the history of Assange and WikiLeaks from the Associated Press.
The guilty plea by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange…
