Assange is free! This is great news for him, for his loved ones and for all those who supported him. But that it restores confidence that perhaps the West could be a place of freedom, it does not. For at least three reasons.
Julian Assange was effectively imprisoned for 12 years without having committed any crime or even being suspected of any crime. His entire crime was to expose the corruption and incompetence of some US government officials. A generation ago, that was the basic mission of the journalism profession. Virtually any of the older Pulitzer Prize winners today could be (and probably would be) persecuted in the same way. Moreover, Julian Assange was not an American citizen, nor did he conduct his activities on American soil. The practice of Western courts is based on the belief that no one in the world has the right to expose the corruption of Western elites.
Julian Assange is a member of the royalty. He is a respected member of the elite. If he were from a working-class background, he would be killed in prison, given a short article about the death of a pro-Russian extremist, and no one would investigate any further. The fact that the prince was eventually released from prison does not mean that the serfs can live freely.
His government stood up for Julian Assange. How do you think he would fare if he were, say, a citizen of the Czech Republic?
However, it’s still much better news than life in an American prison.