Release of Assange is about Biden vs Trump, not justice

The secret negotiations that led to Julian Assange no longer facing the prospect of being sentenced to up to 170 years in an American supermax prison gathered pace five months ago, when the US Department of Justice indicated for the first time that it would accept a plea deal.

- KIM SENGUPTA

Assange had to plead guilty to a single felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material. In return he would face no more jail time, after spending five years in custody without trial.

In January, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese stressed that Assange, an Australian citizen, had spent far too long in limbo. At around the same time, US president Joe Biden stated that he favoured a resolution to the case, which had led to widespread international protests.

Prolonged negotiations then followed, on the charges, the venue for Assange’s court appearance, his support team’s request for assurances that he would not face fresh charges in the future, and whether he might later be granted a pardon over his conviction.

What unfolded has as much to do with US politics as it has to do with the legal process. According to senior Washington officials, Biden did not want Assange to be taken to the US for a trial that would infuriate progressive Democrats already at odds with him over Gaza, in an election year in which the president is fighting to stay in office.

But it was the Biden administration that chose to continue to pursue the charges under the Espionage Act that were instituted during Donald Trump’s presidency – reversing the decision of the previous Democratic president, Barack Obama, not to do so because of the ominous precedent it would set for journalism.

The Australian government is said to have proposed three months ago that the list of charges be reduced to one charge of handling classified documents – a misdemeanour – or that other lesser charges relating to hacking could be brought, to which Assange would plead guilty. The justice department rejected these suggestions.