guilty in a deal that ends a ill year legal battle. he s now back in australia. cheering and applause he was pursued by us prosecutors for leaking vast amounts of classified government and military documents, including those related to the afghanistan and iraq wars. in a press conference after his release, his lawyer called the prosecution the criminalisation of journalism . so, did he pioneer a new form ofjournalism by setting up wikileaks, and has his case, by pleading guilty, set a dangerous precedent for reporters? i started by talking to carrie decell, who is a senior staff attorney at the knight first amendment institute at columbia university. i think this plea deal is significant in two respects. i mean, in the first instance, it must be an enormous relief, of course, forjulian assange and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would e
and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would endorse the us government s interpretation of the espionage act and its consistency with the first amendment. first amendment being the right to free speech, just to remind everybody. yes, that s exactly right. freedom of speech, freedom of the press and a handful of other freedoms as well. but those are the ones at issue here. on the other hand, this plea deal really does cast a long shadow over press freedom in the united states. it s not a formal precedent in the sense that a judicial ruling would have been, but it does, i think, set a practical precedent for the possibility of future prosecutions ofjournalists who engage in very similar activities to the activities thatjulian assange has pleaded guilty to. and by that, i m referring to the solicitation of information from sources, the actual r
at the knight first amendment institute at columbia university. i think this plea deal is significant in two respects. i mean, in the first instance, it must be an enormous relief, of course, forjulian assange and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would endorse the us government s interpretation of the espionage act and its consistency with the first amendment. first amendment being the right to free speech, just to remind everybody. yes, that s exactly right. freedom of speech, freedom of the press and a handful of other freedoms as well. but those are the ones at issue here. on the other hand, this plea deal really does cast a long shadow over press freedom in the united states. it s not a formal precedent in the sense that a judicial ruling would have been, but it does, i think, set a practical precedent for the possibility of future pro
mariana islands and gave us this update earlier. they said he will be landing in australia wants to hearing wraps up. his plan is committed to depart inside three hours time, that he would land around 6:1i1pm australian eastern time. that is later today. our correspondent shaimaa khalil was at the northern mariana islands and gave us this update earlier. julian assange is in the us district court house behind me where the final steps of the legal proceedings for his guilty plea are under way, his pleading guilty for one felony thatis pleading guilty for one felony that is illegally obtaining and disclosing classified national security material, no for him because as for the deal that was agreed the usjustice department, he will get credit for time served in the uk. he is here because crucially, this is here because crucially, this is continental usa, julian assange refused to go to mainland us because he deeply distrust the us government. in the past, he accused him of plotti
northern england, more cloud and the odd shower or a splash of rain. i will have all the details later. it s tuesday 25th june. the bbc has been told that the gambling commission is considering whether more police officers are involved in alleged betting on the date of the general election. four conservatives and a police officer assigned to the protection of rishi sunak are known to be facing inquiries. scotland yard has denied a report that it leaked the names of some of those under investigation. here s our political correspondent, iain watson. did you have inside information when you placed your bet on the election date? i made a statement. it s been nearly two weeks since this aide to the prime minister who s also a conservative candidate said he d made a huge error ofjudgement in betting on the date of the general election. another candidate and two members of the conservative party staff are also being investigated by the gambling commission. last night, interviewe