14-year legal battle comes to an end as Assange walks free
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00:00He's been at the centre of a legal battle that has spanned more than a decade, but after
00:05securing a landmark plea deal with US prosecutors, Julian Assange leaves court a free man.
00:11Today is a historic day. It brings to an end 14 years of legal battles. And finally, after
00:1814 years of legal battles, Julian Assange can go home a free man. This also brings to
00:24an end a case which has been recognised as the greatest threat to the First Amendment
00:30in the 21st century. Assange had been pursued by US prosecutors after they accused him of
00:37violating the Espionage Act. That's over the publishing of US government and military documents
00:43on his website Wikileaks. The trove included a video showing a US military helicopter firing
00:49on and killing two journalists and several Iraqi civilians in 2007. The so-called information
00:56activist has always argued his actions were protected under the US Constitution. It's a stance
01:01he upheld on Wednesday as he pled guilty to a single charge of publishing US military secrets.
01:07The plea is part of a deal struck with the US Justice Department with the help of Australian
01:11officials. The whistleblower had originally been facing 18 criminal charges with a cumulative
01:17sentence of 175 years. His family has held Wednesday's hearing as a major victory, not just for Assange
01:25but for his native Australia too. The Australian people, I'm so proud of them. It is the first
01:32time we can walk out and look in the sun and say to ourselves, we did a sovereign act.
01:40Following the hearing on the Northern Mariana Islands, Assange left for Australia, just over 2,800
01:46kilometres away. The US territory was requested by Assange, who has long been fighting extradition
01:52and refused to step foot in continental United States. The Justice Department has announced he's
01:58now barred from entering the country. For the last five years he was detained in Belmarsh prison in
02:03the UK. The judge on Wednesday ruled that Assange was entitled to a credit time served for his
02:08incarceration at the British prison, meaning he won't need to do any more time behind bars.