Last I checked distributing classified material without authorization is a crime. Possessing classified material without authorization is a crime. Accessing classified documents without authorization is a crime.
Regardless of personal opinions, how is that hard to understand? If you're going to do the crime then be ready to do the time. He did the crime and has been fighting being made to own up to it. He clearly violated the law and assisted in it in many more situations.
And while I don't know the extent of the laws in this area, he did help interfere in the 2016 documents so that may potentially be another round if charges in America.
Disclosing penally relevant document is not a crime. At least within the EU, where we have an exclusively rule of law tradition.
There are certain e-mails disclosed that are penally relevant both in national and international penal courts.
If those e-mails enter a penal courtroom, it is highly probably that certain democratic party politicians will be held accountable for certain things which are penally relevant in Europe.
There is something in our juridical system that is called
scriminante (there is no equivalent in English because of the Common law systems) .
Scriminante is whenever you commit a crime (disclosing a document, for example) but the content of that document is penally relevant and the penal relevance is much higher than the document disclosure itself.
For example, you disclose a document proving a person murdered another person.
So Assange can ask for the status of political refugee in Italy.