The United States said on Wednesday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is now free under an unusual plea deal with US authorities for an offense for which he is credited with serving a prison sentence in British custody, had put people "at risk". In the 2010s, by releasing thousands of classified US government data and documents.
"The leaked documents provided identifying information about individuals in contact with the State Department, including opposition leaders, human rights activists around the world, who were put at risk by disclosure," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
"It also hindered the ability of American personnel to build relationships and have honest conversations," Miller added.
On Wednesday, Assange (52) was released after a brief hearing in the US federal court in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, where he admitted to obtaining and publishing US military secrets. He returned to Australia, his country of origin.
According to the agreement, the former computer scientist pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison, but did not serve that time because he was in extradition custody in Great Britain until recently. and thus he was immediately released.
He was prosecuted by the US Justice Department for releasing more than 2010 classified documents on US military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, since 700.000.
Assange is seen by his supporters as a "free speech hero", but his critics accuse him of releasing large volumes of government documents without any filtering.
At the time, the State Department "had to do whatever it took to keep people out of harm's way," Mueller said, without elaborating.
A State Department spokesman declined to comment on the justice deal with Assange and the negotiations with Australia, specifically those that have allowed the nearly 14-year legal saga to be resolved.
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