Julian Assange: A Hero for Free Speech and a Symbol of Resistance
You might be wondering exactly what he did. Well, he dared to expose the dark underbelly of powerful elites and governments, pulling back the curtain on their dirty secrets and making them squirm.

After more than a decade of relentless persecution and confinement, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and a persistent critic of corrupt governments, finally emerged from the high-security British prison of Belmarsh on Monday, June 24th. His release, achieved through a "guilty plea" agreement with American authorities, ostensibly marks the end of a judicial, diplomatic, and political saga that started in 2010 when Assange exposed secrets many wanted to keep hidden. Assange's ordeal involved five years, two months, and two weeks in the punitive isolation of Belmarsh, following seven years of seclusion in the Ecuadorian embassy.

Assange's legal team negotiated a "guilty plea" with the U.S. justice system to secure his release. He acknowledged guilt on one charge out of the 17 he faced, in exchange for dropping the remaining charges and serving a limited sentence of 62 months, already served on English soil. The guilty plea procedure allowed the government to avoid losing face while guaranteeing Assange's release. However, it does not imply Julian Assange is guilty.

If you're unfamiliar with the details, you might be wondering exactly what he did. Well, he dared to expose the dark underbelly of powerful elites and governments, pulling back the curtain on their dirty secrets and making them squirm in their seats. The saga began when WikiLeaks published thousands of classified documents revealing illegal U.S. military activities, war crimes, and government misconduct. Here are a few of the specific activities that Assange exposed, which resulted in over a decade of his life lost in prison.

War Crimes: Assange's publication of classified U.S. military documents through WikiLeaks revealed shocking details about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These leaks, including the infamous "Collateral Murder" video, a video of attacks by two US helicopter gunships on civilians in Baghdad — two Reuters journalists were among those killed in the attack.

CableGate: WikiLeaks released over 250,000 diplomatic cables providing unpopular opinions about foreign leaders and other sensitive information from the U.S. State Department. This massive trove of documents exposed the inner workings of international diplomacy, corruption, and espionage.

DNC Email Leak / PizzaGate: During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks published emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. These leaks uncovered collusion within the DNC to undermine Bernie Sanders' campaign, highlighted Clinton's controversial speeches to Wall Street, and exposed that high-ranking Democrats were involved in a child sex-trafficking ring operating out of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria, aka “PizzaGate.”

[thetruthaboutcancerofficial.substack.com]