Julian Assange’s court hearing in Saipan was the most high-profile event on the US Pacific island territory since the Japanese emperor visited in 2005 – not that many of the local people seemed to notice.
Even the airport police officers who were tasked with escorting the WikiLeaks founder were in the dark about his identity. “Honestly, I don’t even know the guy,” said one. “We didn’t even know he was coming until this morning.”
The largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan is a serene tourist destination, its beaches filled with families. Events and meetings often run on “island time”, about 10 to 30 minutes later than scheduled. The island has a population of just over 43,000 people.
Apart from the occasional crime story, headlines are usually dominated by updates on the tourism industry and arguments between politicians. Recent controversies include legal proceedings taken against a casino investor who went bankrupt.
But on Wednesday, the quiet palm-fringed island became a global spectacle. An international media circus swept into town as Assange touched down to plead guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that has allowed him to be reunited with his family in Australia.
Saipan was catapulted into the spotlight when it emerged Assange had chosen the remote US territory as the location for his plea deal because it was close to Australia and not part of the US mainland.
For Saipan’s modest domestic media corps, the enormous international interest in Assange meant unheard of competition for quotes and photos. Dozens of correspondents from global media outlets descended on the island with cameras trained on the airport and then the courthouse to get first-hand footage of Assange’s big day.
But away from the scrum of reporters and photographers that trailed Assange from airport to courthouse, life continued much as normal under the blazing Pacific sun.
Many local people had no idea who was causing all the fuss. As the day wore on, they were still asking who Assange was and what he had done that was so controversial.
Some made their way to the district court to see what all the commotion was about. “I just wanted to see what was going on,” one said. “I had nothing else going on today.”
