Julian Assange's Actions Had Put People At Risk: US After Whistleblower Walks Free

Washington DC: After WikiLeaks founder and whistleblower Julian Assange walked free out of prison after striking a plea deal with the United States, the US State Department termed his actions for which he pleaded guilty had put the lives of people, especially Washington's allies and diplomats, at risk.

US State Department Mathew Miller claimed that Assange served as a protected channel of secret information for Russian intelligence interfering in the US presidential elections.

Assange landed in Australia after pleading guilty of violating US espionage law, in a deal that set him free of the 14-year legal case. He arrived to a grand welcome in Canberra, as cheers erupted from his supporters gathered at Canberra Airport in the Australian capital. 

Assange hugged his wife Stella and waved at his supporters.

‘Assange’s Actions Put Lives of US Partners, Diplomats At Risk' 

Addressing a press briefing, Miller said, “I do think it is important when we talk about Julian Assange to remind the world that actions for which he was indicted, for which he has now pled guilty are actions that put the lives of our partners, our allies and our diplomats at risk, especially those who work in, especially those who work in dangerous places like Afghanistan and Iraq.” 

The State Department spokesperson said that WikiLeaks published the documents without redacting names which exposed the names who were in contact with the State Department at that time and hurt the US' ability to build relationships.

"This was some years ago...15 years ago, so the world has forgotten much of it. But, if you recall when WikiLeaks first disseminated and published State Department documents, State Department Cables, they did so without redacting names. They just threw them out there for the world to see. And so the documents they published gave identifying information of individuals who were in contact with the State Department," Miller said.

"That included opposition leaders, human rights activists around the world, whose position were put in some danger because of the disclosure. It also chilled the ability of American personnel to build relationships and have conversations with them," he added.

Before the world even knew of his agreement with the US government, the 52-year-old Australian walked out of London prison on Monday and had already boarded a private jet to leave the UK. 

He appeared in a US courtroom on the Northern Mariana Islands to formalise the agreement and officially pleaded guilty to conspiring unlawfully to obtain and disseminate classified information over his alleged role in one of the largest breaches of classified material in US military history.