What espionage charge did Julian Assange plead guilty to? What ...
Julian Assange been convicted under the US Espionage Act, with his guilty plea enabling him to come home to Australia.
Here's the exact charge he admitted to and what we know about it.
What charge was Julian Assange convicted of?Conspiracy to Obtain and Disclose National Defense Information.
That's the exact wording (and spelling) used in the court document, but you might also hear referred to as an "espionage charge".
That's because it's a charge under the US Espionage Act.
Specifically, Assange was charged under section 793 of the act.
Wasn't he facing other charges?Yes, but thanks to a plea deal, he was only convicted of one charge.
He was originally facing 18 charges and a maximum penalty of 175 years in prison.
Assange arrives at the US District Court in Saipan the morning of his sentencing. (Getty Images: Chung Sung-Jun)
What did Julian Assange do?This charge is about publishing US military information about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Assange was charged for conspiring with Chelsea Manning — who was a US Army intelligence analyst at the time — to publish military documents on the WikiLeaks website.
Here's what the court documents filed in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands said:
A.To receive and obtain documents, writings, and notes connected with the national defense, including such materials classified up to the SECRET level, for the purpose of obtaining information respecting the national defense, and knowing and with reason to believe at the time such materials were received and obtained, they had been and would be taken, obtained, and disposed of by a person contrary to the provisions of Chapter 37 of Title 18 of the United States Code, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(c);
B. To willfully communicate documents relating to the national defense, including documents classified up to the SECRET level, from persons having lawful possession of or access to such documents, to persons not entitled to receive them, in violation of Title 18, United States Code. Section 793(d); and
C. To willfully communicate documents relating to the national defense from persons in unauthorized possession of such documents to persons not entitled to receive them, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(e).
The most well known would be a classified video showing a US helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, Iraq in 2007.
It's known as "Collateral Murder".
All up, Manning sent more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks.
It was the largest breach of classified information in America's history.
Assange admitted to one charge under the US Espionage Act. (Reuters: Issei Kato)
What does espionage mean?Espionage is another word for spying.
It might conjure images of secret agents and spy movies, but in the context of this American law, there's a bit more nuance to it than that.
The Espionage Act was passed in 1917 — that was back in World War I, when countries were worried about their enemies finding out information that could be used against them.
Here's how it appears in the United States Code on America's House of Representatives website:
CHAPTER 37—ESPIONAGE AND CENSORSHIP (sections 791 to 799)
Sec. 791. Repealed. Pub. L. 87-369, §1, Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 795
Sec. 792. Harboring or concealing persons
Sec. 793. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
Sec. 794. Gathering or delivering defense information to aid foreign government
Sec. 795. Photographing and sketching defense installations
Sec. 796. Use of aircraft for photographing defense installations
Sec. 797. Publication and sale of photographs of defense installations
Sec. 798. Disclosure of classified information
Sec. 798A. Temporary extension of section 794
Sec. 799. Violation of regulations of National Aeronautics and Space Administration
What does Conspiracy to Obtain and Disclose National Defense Information mean?Sam Lebovic, a historian from George Mason University, told the ABC about the quirks of the Espionage Act and the specific section Assange was convicted under.
"That is not about espionage in the classic sense, it is about information handling or secrecy provisions," Professor Lebovic said.
"The law is controversial because the sections are vague.
"They make a lot of regulations that say things like 'You can't disclose information to international defence without authorisation or receive or communicate it, publicise or gather it' and so forth."
What is the maximum penalty?10 years in prison.
However, Assange will not be going to jail — instead, he'll be allowed to travel home to Australia.
Why isn't Julian Assange going to jail?He's been sentenced to time already served in prison — specifically 62 months.
Assange spent five years in the UK's Belmarsh prison awaiting possible extradition to the US to face the American charges.
ABC North America correspondent Carrington Clarke explains that Chief Judge Ramona V Manglona said the timing was important:
"The fact that this case came before her today in 2024 means that she approached it very differently than she would have say, 2012.
"Julian Assange has spent five years in prison, but in addition to that, he has been seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom.
"All this time, he was effectively without his freedom.
"She also pointed out that the co-conspirator listed in the core documents, Chelsea Manning, a military officer who actually leaked the top-secret confidential information to Julian Assange and to WikiLeaks, although was sentenced to 35 years, had her sentence commuted after seven years.
"She says, taking into account all these different factors, she does believe the 62 months that have be served by Julian Assange in British prison is commensurate with the crime that he has led pled guilty to."
