WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange touches down in Australia as a free man after US plea deal
26 June 2024, 11:38 | Updated: 26 June 2024, 12:04
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has arrived in his home country of Australia.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
He touched down in Canberra this morning a free man, after walking free free from a US court on the Pacific island of Saipan earlier after he pleaded guilty to a single felony charge.
The plea was part of a deal to resolve a long-running legal case over the publication of classified documents concerning the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
He left the UK on Monday after spending five years in prison there fighting extradition to the US. Prior to that he spent seven years in the Ecuadorean embassy.
Upon arrival, Mr Assange hugged and kissed his wife Stella after disembarking the jet.
Supporters cheered as Mr Assange emerged from the plane. The 52-year-old waved at those watching on from the airport fence with shouts of "welcome home".
Among those greeting him was his father John Shipton, who hugged his son before he gave one final wave and entered a nearby building.
Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese spoke with Julian Assange to "welcome him home" after his plane landed in the Australian capital Canberra.
"I'm very pleased that this saga is over," he told a press conference.
"Earlier tonight I was pleased to call with Mr Assange to welcome him home.
"His safe return to Australia means so much to his family."
Mr Assange told the PM it was "surreal" to have landed in Canberra.
Mr Assange is now "looking forward to playing with his children" now that he has returned to his native Australia, Mr Albanese told a press conference.
"There is nothing to be gained by the further incarceration of Mr Assange," he continued.
"This is the culmination of careful, persistent and determined advocacy.
"He's been through a considerable ordeal.
"I was quite pleased that I was the first person here that he spoke with," Mr Albanese added.
Read more: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange leaves UK after being freed in US plea deal
Read more: Married couple 'kept five adopted black children locked in garden shed and used them as slaves'
Julian Assange set to arrive in Australia after leaving US court
He was granted bail by the High Court in London and released from Belmarsh Prison on Monday following negotiations with US authorities over a plea deal, WikiLeaks has said.
In a statement posted on X, the official WikiLeaks account said Assange left the maximum security prison on Monday morning "after having spent 1901 days there".
The statement continued: "He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.
"This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.
"This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised."
Court papers filed by the US Justice Department show Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information.
It followed the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 24, 2024
Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a…
