Bitcoiner contributes to Julian Assange’s freedom, pays $500K debt in BTC

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is free after a 14-year battle against extradition to the United States. In a final effort to secure his freedom, an anonymous Bitcoiner donated over eight Bitcoin, valued at $500,000, to help Assange’s family pay off the debt incurred by his travel and settlement expenses.

On June 24, Assange was released from the high-security Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom after reaching a plea agreement with the United States. Shortly after his release, he departed the country on a private plane from a London airport to the U.S. Pacific territory of Saipan.

Assange walked free from  appeared in a district court in Saipan on June 26 where he pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the U.S. Espionage Act by leaking classified documents. The journey was planned to prevent Assange from touching foot on American soil.

Bitcoiner helps in Julian Assange’s final flight to freedom

In an interview, Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s wife, stated that “freedom comes at a cost.” Julian Assange is required to pay $520,000 to the Australian government for the “forced” chartering of flight VJ199 to travel to Saipan and Australia.

Stella started a crowdfunding page to help the jailed founder with his debts after his return to home Australia.

The donation link was posted by Stella Assange on June 25, and within 10 hours, an anonymous Bitcoiner paid over 8 BTC to the fund, almost clearing the goal of $520,000. He has also received over 300,000 British pounds ($380,000) in fiat donations so far.

The single Bitcoin donation was the largest donation to the fund and more than all the other donations in all currencies put together. As a result of this donation, Assange will arrive in Australia debt-free.

Related: Julian Assange’s brother denies AssangeDAO soft rug claims: ‘It’s just false!’

Assange pleads guilty, walks out of court a free man

Earlier on June 26, Assange appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose secret U.S. national defense documents.

U.S. District Judge Ramona Manglona sentenced Assange to five years and two months in prison for pleading guilty to espionage charges.

However, Assange has already served the exact amount of prison time in the United Kingdom while fighting extradition. As a result, he walked from the courtroom a free man.

Assange then took his private flight and arrived in Canberra at 09:39 UTC.

Assange argued that the Espionage Act, under which he was charged, conflicted with the First Amendment rights in the U.S. Constitution.

However, he acknowledged that encouraging sources to provide classified information for publication could be illegal. As part of the plea deal, he was required to destroy all classified information provided to WikiLeaks.

Magazine: $3.4B of Bitcoin in a popcorn tin — The Silk Road hacker’s story