Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has returned to X with a brief post saying, “I’m back”
Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and became the central figure in a major US criminal case over the publication of classified government material
In June 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose national-defence information and received a 62-month time-served sentence
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and an investigative journalist, programmer and activist, announced his return to X on Thursday, posting: “I'm back.” He also reposted a WikiLeaks post announcing his return.
Assange’s WikiLeaks Chapter
WikiLeaks says it publishes documents of political or historical importance that have been censored or otherwise suppressed. Assange founded the organisation in 2006 and later became the central figure in a major US criminal case over WikiLeaks' publication of classified material.
In 2019, a US federal grand jury returned an 18-count superseding indictment against Assange. The indictment alleged that he conspired with former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain and disclose classified national-defence information.
According to the US Department of Justice, Manning provided WikiLeaks with hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including records relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Guantanamo Bay detainees and US State Department diplomatic cables.
The indictment also alleged that Assange encouraged Manning to provide classified information and agreed to help crack a password hash on a US Department of Defense computer connected to its classified network.
Guilty Plea
In June 2024, Assange pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose documents and information relating to US national defence. The plea agreement specified a conspiracy charge involving the obtaining of national-defence documents and their willful communication.
He received a 62-month, time-served sentence, reflecting the roughly 62 months he had spent in Britain's Belmarsh prison while contesting extradition to the US.
Under the plea agreement, the US agreed to withdraw its extradition request, and Assange was to leave the US for Australia after sentencing. He was prohibited from returning to the US without permission.
His guilty plea and sentencing brought the US criminal case to an end. The new X posts mark Assange's latest public return to the platform.
